Christopher Robin: Adulting

“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

Do you ever think back to your childhood and think fondly of the innocence and wonder you used to have? We often long for the passion and faith of our childhood years, but the world we live in requires us to “mature” and leave our carefree days behind us. Life creates wounds and scars that replace faith with cynicism, wonder with familiarity, and passion with responsibility. We become so entangled in the worries of life that we eventually lose that life.

Christopher Robin tells the story of Christopher after he grows up and leaves his childhood friends in the Hundred Acre Wood behind. Christopher has become a business man who has forgotten what it means to be a child. He is so focused on his responsibilities that he has forgotten why he has them. He works hard to provide money and security for his family, but fails to be a presence in their life. After missing another promised family weekend together his wife implores “We want you. This is life, Christopher. This weekend is your life. Your life is happening now. Right in front of you.”

Christopher continues to miss out on living in the present until he receives a visit from Winnie the Pooh, his childhood teddy bear. Pooh’s childlike innocence contrasts Christopher’s busy adulting, causing him to reevaluate his current perceptions of what is important in life. Pooh reminds Christopher, “Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.” We sometimes forget to sit back and do nothing. Satan knows if we take time to reflect on God’s goodness in our life, we will remember that God is on our side. And if God is for us nothing can stand against us.

Jesus often took time out of His ministry to do “nothing”. He also reminded others they needed to sit back and not be so busy.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

We were not designed to be busy, working nonstop. we were designed to sometimes simply do nothing with our Father God. Jesus broke away from the crowds and His ministry to simply pray. He realized the importance of communion, fellowship, and relaxation. If we do not stop and take stock of the important things in life, what is the point of that life? If we continue to hurry past life, life will hurry past us. We will be left with regrets and an unfulfilled life.

Jesus also warned us that our spiritual life could suffer from the worries and struggles we face in life. In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes God as a sower planting His word in the hearts of individuals. The sower planted some seed in ground that was entangled with thorns. The thorns choked the life out of the seed and it yielded no grain. Christopher Robin is a visual representation of what can happen to us if we allow the thorns of life to inhibit the important things in our lives.

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

Mark 4:18-19

Christopher allowed his career and his concern for the future of his family take first place above his family. Your concern for someone should never rise above that person. When we allow our fears of the future to sacrifice the present, we devalue what God has given us right now. If we are not thankful for what we have now, we will never be thankful for what we have not yet received. The joy of the Lord is not dependent on future accomplishments or security. His joy is reliant only on our relationship with Him.

We should not allow our anxieties of the past define our present decisions about our future. We need to approach God like a child. Our Father wishes us to come to Him with our needs and desires. God wants to be a presence in our life, providing for our needs. If we constantly worry about our next bill, pleasing our bosses at work, keeping up with the Joneses; we will never value God or the people in our lives. The Bible say that this world and everything in it will pass away, But God’s word will never pass away. And His word says the two most important commands are love God and love others.

I implore anyone who reads this to take a moment to slow down and remember the people who are in your life right now. How are you cultivating those relationships? Do they know you love them? Are family and friends stopping by, or is time passing by? Do you place your anxieties and concerns in God’s hands or are you holding onto them? Place your trust in God and let the worries fall away. God cares for you and wants you to live life now, not when life finally allows you a moment. Remember what is important in life, and let God handle the rest.

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Matthew 6:25-33