This is my granddaughter, Peyton. I don’t want to offend any grandparents out there, but naturally, we consider Peyton to be the most brilliant and beautiful child in the entire world J. Having said that, she still has a lot to learn.
At six months old, Peyton has gone mobile. She can’t crawl yet but she does manage to wiggle her way into a lot of trouble. She has found a way to roll off the bed, balance her Bumbo seat on the counter’s edge and grab nearby electrical cords to chew on as she teethes. Wow – James Dobson was right when he said parenting wasn’t for cowards.
The point is that while Peyton thinks she wants every bright, shiny object within her reach, that shiny bauble could wound her forever. She needs someone older and wiser to take those things away. Yes, she will cry inconsolably for a few minutes and that will break her “Nina’s” heart, but it won’t change my mind. I have Peyton’s ultimate good as my goal.
For all our many years, we aren’t much wiser than that precious, precocious child. Fearing following God with all our heart, and mind and soul will be too costly, like Peyton, we easily trade in the treasure of intimacy with God for the passing baubles of the world.
We want to maintain just a tad of control, hang onto the comfort of convenience and protect our hearts from anything that causes pain. Deep down that lie from Eden’s garden still echoes in our ears. “Can God really be trusted to look out for my ultimate good? What harm will it do to reach out and take a bite of the fruit of life? It’s just a small bite. I’m smart enough to make my own choices. Somebody has to look out for number one.”
Chapter one of I John was written to warn us about that very thing. We can’t have intimate fellowship with God and walk in the darkness, too. Sin, any sin, is incompatible with the holiness of God. And while we may cry inconsolably when the bright, shiny promises of pride and pleasure, security and status, and the passing praise of men are taken away, it is the path to fullness of joy.
We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy…God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. I John 1:3-5
We need never fear relinquishing anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God, because God is light and He will never do us any harm.
When Satan whispers seductive lies in your ears, and the world’s treasures promise happiness beyond belief, trust God. He knows a better way. He is looking out for your ultimate good. And even in your pain, His joy will be there.
There is no limit to the goodness of God!
Tags: love
