As a Little Child

The Savior gave this invitation to those Nephites who survived the destruction at the time of His death: “Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved” (3 Nephi 9:22). To come unto Him as a child is to come without reservation, to come with all our hearts, to desire more than anything else to follow Him and be with Him. I saw this kind of desire in my three-year-old yesterday when I met up with my wife at music lessons for some of my other children. We had to do a car swap so I needed to take the van from my wife and go home with all the kids, but my little girl desperately wanted to go in my car. She was in tears because she could not be in daddy’s car. I have seen the same kind of yearning in her as either my wife or I have left the house and for one reason or another she could not go with us, and she would stand there crying at the door trying to follow us out because she wanted so badly to go with us. Unlike my older children who aren’t so easily satisfied, she often just wants to be with us and go where we go. That is the kind of desire that we should have to be with the Savior, to figuratively go with Him where He goes. Last night this same daughter also gathered up about twenty books and took them to my room (with my help) insisting that we read them all on my bed. We of course couldn’t get through them all in one night, but surely that is the kind of enthusiasm and desire with which we should go to the Savior!   

                In the above invitation from the Savior, I think we can also take from it that we should not only come unto Him as little child but also repent as a little child. Strictly speaking little children do not repent because they cannot sin, but they do learn to say sorry and to try to right their wrongs. One of the things that has impressed me as I have raised little children is how quickly they usually say sorrow and move on after a little fight or argument. As adults when someone offends us or when we offend them we sometimes take weeks or months or years to get over it, apologize, and repair the relationship. But little children are for the most part very quick to say sorry, to forgive, and to move on. That is surely how the Lord wants us to repent—we should say sorry quickly, make amends however we can, and then move on without looking back. My two youngest are constantly getting into some little scuffle, but they are able to rapidly move on and they will be back playing together again within minutes after what seemed like a major fight between them. As President Nelson has now invited us numerous times, we should repent daily, coming quickly and frequently to the Lord to say sorry, make amends, and move on. Repenting is perhaps not unlike washing dishes—the longer we wait to do it the harder it is. Cleaning a plate that has had food on it from a meal ten minutes previous is very easy; but cleaning a plate that has caked on food from a week before will take some serious scrubbing. The longer we wait the harder it is. And so it is with repentance: if we, like a child, learn to quickly make amends, ask for forgiveness, and move on when we have made mistakes then those mistakes will not stick as easily. We need to come to Him without hesitation and like a child to be forgiven, and just as He invited those Nephites He invites us: “If ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me…. Therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved” (3 Nephi 9:14,22).