Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Hebrews 5:12-14 NLT
“You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures.* You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 And a person who is living on milk isn't very far along in the Christian life and doesn't know much about doing what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.”

I believe it was Bill Cosby that had a show out for a while which was entitled, “Kids Say the Darnedest Things”. Everyone watching would get a good laugh at the funny and cute things little kids would do and say. As a parent, I have found myself seemingly in a perpetual episode of that show, as I’m sure all parents have. I found myself thinking about some of the times when my kids said the darnedest things as I sat at work last night. One of those more recent times was a couple of weeks ago, as I sat at home one night, having just put my six and three and a half year old daughters to bed for the night. As I sat on the couch watching TV, I heard the familiar sound of the girls playing upstairs. Knowing the early waking time in my home, I sternly hollered up the stairs for the girls to quit playing and get back in bed. I was shocked (and quite amused) by what my younger daughter actually told me. “Daddy, you just be quiet!” I’ll just let you know, my little girl received a lesson in talking to Daddy like that, and she hasn’t since then. What makes kids say stuff like that? It’s just how they are. My kids have grown up in a home that honors Jesus Christ above all, so it’s neat when we hear them out of the blue start talking about God and Jesus. But just as they can talk about God, they can turn on a dime and start talking like my daughter spoke to me. It’s really just a child’s maturity level.

We can get like that spiritually, can’t we? The Bible admonishes us in several places to “grow up”. Some places it’s said nicely, other places, like in our passage today, it’s much more direct. I know there are times in my personal walk with God that I am tempted to revert back to being a “baby Christian”, and begin to whine to God. Perhaps it’s those times when we’ve been praying and praying for God to do something, or give us something, and the answer is “no”. Maybe there are times when we find ourselves spiritually “pouting”, because things didn’t work out like we hoped they would. Maybe we’ve even taken a mouthy attitude toward the Lord when He has asked us to do something we don’t want to do, like pray for someone that has mistreated us. Let’s remember that the Bible tells us to put away childish things. We don’t see things too clearly right now. But, we can trust that the Lord sees all and knows exactly what we need, when we need it.

I’m reminded of yesterday’s blog, about the disciples panicking in the storm. Immaturity in the things of God causes us to look only on what we see in front of us. But, just as the Lord knew exactly what was happening on that lake, so He knows exactly what is happening in our lives. Over and over, we are told in the Bible to “grow up”. True growth looks beyond our selfish reasoning, trusting that God knows best. So, let’s not be like my two-year old son, who for some strange reason has the urge to repeatedly try and explore the oven, and gets mad when Mommy stops him from opening the door. Mommy just knows what’s best. When God tells us no, just know that He knows best. God bless.