These days are filled with expectation in our family because we
are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first granddaughter, Emma. Her actual due date is tomorrow so we are now
just waiting for her to realize how cramped she is in her present surroundings
and decide it’s time to make her appearance!
Even though I haven’t met her yet, I realize that she won’t be
able to crawl, or walk, or talk in words that are understandable when she
enters this world. I’m guessing she will
cry at times when her parents wish she wouldn’t and won’t sleep when they wish
she would. She won’t be ready to eat
grandma’s cooking and believe it or not, she won’t even be potty trained!
None of these things though, will dampen my love for our
precious Emma. I won’t be upset with her
when I hold her for the first time, telling her how disappointed I am in her
because she hasn’t mastered these skills.
The reason is that I don’t expect her to be able to do any of those
things. She will be a newborn and anyone
with any intelligence knows that a baby isn’t ready to crawl or walk or do the
other things I listed. Those things will
come, but it will take time while her body and mind grows and she develops into
the young person that God intends her to be.
Why is it then that when a person makes the awesome decision to
accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior…we think they should
immediately look, act and speak like a fully developed Christian? They are babes in Christ, just like a newborn
baby. It may be too much for them to
even crawl in their walk at the beginning…but in time they will crawl, walk and
even run on their journey. They may cry and say things that we wish they
wouldn’t and won’t make decisions like we wish they would. We shouldn’t expect them to, nor should we
tell them how disappointed we are in them because they don’t have everything in
their life cleaned up.
Isn’t it amazing that we want grace from others for
ourselves…but fail to extend grace to those around us? Let’s remember that we are all a work in
progress and that those who are newborns need to feel and see our love
regardless of what stage of development they are in. Those times of growth will come for them and
for us, but it will take time while our faith grows and we develop into the
faithful followers that God intends us to be.
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as
your Lord,
you must continue to follow
him.
Let your roots grow down into
him,
and let your lives be built on
him.
Then your faith will grow strong
in the truth you were taught,
and you will overflow with
thankfulness.”
Colossians
2:6-7
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