Clay and I take Jax to Milliken often to release some puppy energy. Tuesday night I was power walking while Clay and Jax sniffed and sprinted (Jax sniffed, Clay sprinted) and I came upon a dad and two little boys feeding the ducks in one of the ponds. The boys appeared to be 4ish and 6ish in age. The 6 year old was doing his own thing, totally unconcerned about his dad and little brother - actually ignoring them. The younger boy was doing everything his dad would do. His dad would bend over for more bread, the boy would bend over for more bread. If the dad tossed the bread underhanded, the boy tossed the bread underhanded. If the dad wound up and threw it like a baseball, the boy wound up and threw it like a baseball. If the dad talked to the ducks, the boy talked to the ducks. If the dad said something to the older son, the boy said something to his big brother. It was adorable.

It reminded me of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. When we are young in our walk with Him, we stick right with him. We do whatever He says and we are so close in relationship that we reflect Him wherever we go. His wish is our command. Whatever He calls us to do, man we’re all about it.

But as we get older in our walk, we tend to stray from our first love. We go off and do whatever we want to do. We wander aimlessly, often ignoring or even unaware of our Father’s presence. He calls out to us yet we just keep on doing our own thing, ignoring His voice. Oh how He wants us to be as the little child and mimic Him! He wants us to stay right by His side and do exactly what He asks. How much easier our lives would be if we would remain in His presence as we did when we first fell in love with Him.

What about you? Are you the older child that has wandered off to “it’s all about me” land? Or are you the younger child that loves to spend time with your Father?

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:3-5a).

“You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 5:14).

Hope

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Hope's Devotionals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.