Good Tuesday morning! The summer is swooping on by. I'm sure there are kids somewhere looking at a calendar going "Let's see school starts in... aaagh!" I had a thought about faith last night. Jesus told us to have faith like a child. Is there a difference between the faith of a child and our faith as adults?
A story occurred to me regarding the recent fireworks season. This year has been quite wet in these parts, but usually this is not so. Suppose a child on a farm wanted to light some firecrackers, but the family had fields full of ripe, dry wheat ready for the harvest. The child had purchased some firecrackers during the brief sales period in town, but he was not allowed to set them off until after the harvest. After the family prays to God to protect their harvest and livelihood for the coming year, the child might see no problem with setting off his firecrackers because God has their fields protected. A child's faith might put any of our own to shame in such a case.
However, the father of this faithful child knows that while placing our faith in God it is also not our place to test him by setting off firecrackers near the dry fields of wheat. Which one is right, the child or his father? Both of them are right. As adults we know that we are not to test God by doing foolish or risky things. As a child, we knew then that God was someone we could put absolute trust in. As adults the Holy Spirit teaches us to have that child-like faith; as children grow, the same Holy Spirit teaches them to be aware of responsibility. Yes, we do at times yearn to be back in the simpler life of our childhood, but that isn't possible in this life. We can only grow forward as the Holy Spirit works God's wonderful will in our lives.
Enjoy the wonder of God as you grow today,
Bucky
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