June 15 - 1 John 3:1-3. Children

June 15 - 1 John 3:1-3. Children

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

For most of us, the one time in our lives when we were able to be carefree was when we were children. Our parents paid the bills and planned our schedules.  They encouraged us, supported us, showed up at all our events and even made sure we were there on time.  They worried about getting the laundry done, putting food on the table, ensuring the house was clean enough for guests.  They made sure we felt safe so we could sleep through the night and helped us care for our health issues.

When we were sick or frightened, they taught us to pray and they prayed for us.  They introduced us to the world and helped us explore new places and meet new people.  We got to be children. When we were dirty, they helped us get clean. When we were naughty, they disciplined us. They taught us to read and sent us to school to learn.

The responsibilities that we had were managed by our parents, who helped us grow up so we could take on more and more.  But, while we were children … we were children.  We got to be children because our parents loved us.

(Please know that I understand there are many of you who didn’t receive this blessing. I don’t know what to say to you except that I’m so sorry and wish it could have been different for you. I pray that you find ways to discover the child inside.)

As God’s children, we get to enjoy that same type of life.  We think that we have to work so hard at being His child, when all we really have to do is allow Him to be our parent. He wants nothing but good for us, so if He sets the boundaries or He sets out expectations, we can be confident that it will be good.

When our parents were raising us, they had no idea what we would become as we grew up and out of their direct responsibility. We didn’t know either, we just had confidence something would happen for us.  We don’t know what we will be like as Christians living within God’s will either. But, God does.

It is good for me to consider being a child again and knowing that someone who loves me more than I will ever know wants me to be happy and successful, joyful and filled with peace.