God's Child

I was struck by what a well respected authority on parenting said about the practice many parents have adopted by counting to three in order to get our children to obey. (I, myself, count to three in order to get my son to listen to me, and so am by no means passing judgement on this practice). He said, however, how detrimental he thought this was. We ask our kids to do something, and when they don't respond we start counting to three. However, in doing so we are undermining our authority three times. Our child didn't listen to us, and so we are going to give them two more chances not to listen to us before they are disciplined. I thought this very interesting when I read it. As I was sharing this with my friend, she pointed out an interesting parallel.

We obviously want the best for our children. We don't prevent our children from doing certain things to be over bearing and boring. Our intention is not to be the "no fun police". We stop our children from running away from us in the parking lot to keep them safe. We say they can't help themselves to candy in order to protect their health and their teeth. We tell them not to hit so that they can display love and function well in society. The need for children to respect authority aside, it is in their best interest to obey first time.

What my friend pointed out to me is that God desires for us to listen to Him and obey the first time. How much less "trouble" would we find ourselves in if God spoke to us (which He clearly does) and we listened? How much heart ache would we be able to bypass? Just as we want for our children, God wants the best for us. Can you imagine how He feels when we don't listen? I know the frustration I feel when my son doesn't understand why I am telling him "no" and so subsequently chooses not to listen to me. If only he listened to me the first time.

If only I listened to Him the first time. I realize that this means for many of us (most definitely myself included) that we need to first learn how to listen to what God is saying to us, and then secondly make a practice out of it. We need to be in tune with His desires for us. We need to understand His motives. Then we need to do as He tells us.

I am God's child. I don't want it to get to the count of three.