"No!" That single word expressed so much. My three year old granddaughter, Selma, stood in front of her mommy, chubby little hands placed firmly on her hips, glaring eyes flaming with defiance. "No!" She cried. With that, she stuck out her tongue and stomped away!
Selma looked like a little angel. Curly white blond hair perfectly framed her big blue eyes. Often she wore cute little outfits that made her look like a princess. As she walked past, random people would reach out and try to pat her hair or poke each other and smile at the picture she presented. Absolutely every time they would go out someone would comment on her hair or how sweet she looked. That was the word most commonly used to describe this little munchkin....."Oh, how sweet!"
Unfortunately, at the time, she was occasionally anything but sweet. There was a dark side to this littlest angel. She had a strong will, a will of iron that surrounded her like an impenetrable fortress.
That was the situation this day. I watched and tried to hide my amusement at the sight of this small toddler, fresh out of babyhood, standing up to her grown up mommy without fear. Fortunately, she did receive a consequence for this action.
She began to recognize her stubbornness though and observing her was an impressive lesson in what repentance should be.
One day after a particularly strong bout of disobedience, she drew her chubby little fists together and started to claw at her chest. When asked what she was doing, she exclaimed, "I'm trying to get all that yucky stuff out of my heart and stomp on it!" With that, she pretended to throw something down on the ground and stomp on it, hard!!!
Slowly, she began to understand the concept of disobedience and repentance. Also, she learned that Jesus Christ loved her even though she struggled inside. One day, during her fourth birthday party, she turned to her mother and said, "I'm so happy that I feel like God is throwing flowers at me!" Giggling with delight, she ran off to play, totally at ease and carefree.
As I think about sin from a toddler's perspective, I am amazed at how simple it is. God did not make it hard to understand. Once you are aware of sin, stop it, ask forgiveness, and try not to do it again. Then....go play....cause God is throwing flowers of joy at you!!!
"If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9
Have a good day! Love, Sue
No comments:
Post a Comment