Have you ever been shopping and you find an item that screams at you? You pick it up and know you’re taking it home.
My husband is a huge fan of Mac products and sitting on a shelf was this amazing black mug . . . for 40¢!
He was so excited that he sent me a picture of it while he was still in the store.
Unfortunately, the mug only lasted about three hours in our care.
One of our sons was dancing in the living room…dancing like a crazy person, mind you. I told him to stop but he didn’t listen. His flailing arm hit the mug, sending it toppling to the tile floor.
My husband clenched his jaw and walked out of the room. To be honest, I was upset, too.
I was upset that something was broken because of disobedience. It was pointless and preventable.
Mugs can be replaced, but our children’s character cannot.
If we don’t instill obedience in our children, they will grow up to be disobedient adults and disrespectful of authority.
And as I thought “we can’t have nice things because our kids just break them,” I realized that God might think the same thing about us sometimes.
Like when we receive unexpected extra money and don’t apply it to debt, but use it to splurge on a treat because we “deserve” it.
Like when we’re given extra free time and instead of being productive, we goof off.
And I wonder, since He knows what we’re going to do with His gifts, if He hesitates to give them.
Because we’ll break them. Abuse them. Not appreciate them.
I know we have a loving, forgiving God. He wants to bless us . . . pour out blessings on us. I know this because when our son showed remorse, my heart went out to him. We forgave him and life moved on.
If I have a change in heart towards my son, I know God can too, because He feels even more intensely towards us.
When we sin, we’re broken, but we can be mended, just like we can fix the mug.
It will be more delicate and will require extra careful handling, but just like our hearts show scars of old wounds, God treats us carefully and delicately.
This reminder of God’s grace was worth a lot more than 40¢.
I liked this line a lot: "And I wonder, since He knows what we're going to do with His gifts, if He hesitates to give them." — it definitely made me think.
AWESOME POST!
Love it! Beautifully written.