As a Little Child

Two phrases stuck out to me as I read the Savior’s words when He visited the Nephites.  In 3 Nephi 11, Christ told the Nephites twice that they needed to “repent, and become as a little child” (3 Nephi 11:37-38).  Then in 3 Nephi 12 the Savior repeated many times the invitation to “come unto me”: He praised the “poor in spirit who come unto me”; He invited them to “come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit” and to “come unto me and be ye saved”; and He told them to “first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come unto me with full purpose of heart” (v. 3, 19, 20, 24).  He actually connected the idea of coming unto Him and being like a little child in the first words that He said to them.  When they were still in darkness and He spoke to them, He said, “Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God” (3 Nephi 9:22).  So when we are told to be like little children, perhaps the focus is on mimicking the way that little children come unto Him.  Obviously when we think of the behavior of little children it is not always the kind of thing we want to copy; but I think in this invitation Christ was focusing on how children will come unto Him in faith without fear or hesitation.  Children naturally believe in Him, and He showed a few chapters later how they come unto Him.  He commanded the parents to bring their little children and they “set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in their midst.”  After praying, “He took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.”  Lest there was any chance they would miss the lesson, He told them, “Behold your little ones” (3 Nephi 17: 12, 21, 23).  These children left their parents to sit around Him, and they let the Savior bless Him.  Perhaps that’s the key to how we are to be like little children: they did not say, “I don’t need help” or “I’m fine, bless someone else.”  No, they wholeheartedly accepted the Savior’s gift to them and had no hesitations or fears.  That’s how we should come to the Savior: with simple trust, unashamedly accepting His gift and help.