The Ways Of A Child

 

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

1 Corinthians 13: 11 NKJV 

I followed a sermon from a radio pastor with a but of interest this week.  He was speaking to a subject which I have been curious about for awhile.  That being our own belief that we are somehow independent from God, that God is in heaven watching over us.  Not only is this a narrative of the institutional church, but it is a lie spurned by the enemy in the garden.  Still, I was interested.  The preacher got to the point of the word that every child hates to hear...no.  Every parent has most assuredly ridden with their own children through what we call the "terrible two's."  It is here where a child seems to develop their own idea of independence and are not afraid to exercise it.  Is this where we learn the lie of being independent from God?  I don't believe so, but it's a good place to start.  The child's world, from their perspective, is one of mom, dad and a whole bunch of new stuff they have never experienced before.  Naturally curious, children all too often set out to explore all that is new around them.  Of course, trouble comes about when that which they are exploring can be a danger to them.  The hot stove burner, sharp objects and any and every household chemical.  Is it any wonder why parents get very adept at using the one word a child hates to hear?  What child wants to hear that they can't discover the world around them?  I have many memories of my own childhood and my quest to discover all that I could.  One of those memories became a family story for years to come.  It seems that one summer hot summer day way back when I was outside playing as I usually did.  That is, until I got thirsty and needed a drink.  I headed home.  I remembered that my dad always kept a jug of water for me and my brother in the screen porch of our house.  When I got home I saw a red can in the porch, surely this was the water I needed.  Nope.  The rest of the story follows with my getting a police escort in the ambulance (Dad was a deputy) to the local hospital where my stomach was pumped free of gasoline...not water.  Another day in the life so they say.  

I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.  I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.  I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father.  I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.  I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you.  And you have overcome the wicked one. 

1 John 3: 13 - 14 NKJV 

What do I recall about that day?  That I was too young to know the importance of a gas can.  Yet, I was a child and I needed to experience many things.  I have no doubt that parents can and will recall the times they were kept awake worrying about what their children were getting into.  The apostle Paul tells us that there comes a point where we stop thinking as a child and out away childish things {1 Corinthians 13:11}.  We've recently been discussing the different levels of belief and knowing which the apostle John shows us in 1 John 3.  Although it may be hard to understand, there are different levels of knowing Jesus.  As a young Christian, you rejoice in the belief that your sins are forgiven through the work of Christ on the cross.  As we grow in our faith, we come to realize more and more about Jesus and how much He means to us.  Do we jump into Christianity knowing Jesus?  No.  We enter into a belief in Christ knowing OF Jesus.  This is entry level believing.  As we progress in our belief, we not only come to know more about Jesus, but the Father as well.  When I first heard about Jesus, I had no idea that He could live in me {Galatians 2:20}.  All I knew was that He died on the cross for me and rose three days later.  Now, years later, I have a deeper knowing of Christ than I ever have.  I have grown in my knowing, but that growing never stops.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!  Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

1 John 3: 1 NKJV 

~Scott~