Childish Things

Childish Things (by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)

1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 

We have a young family living next door to us, and it is a joy to watch them play, and just enjoy life. They play ball with their dad, and tend the garden with mom. The dad is in the asphalt and concrete business, so I contracted with him to pour a cement pad in front of our garage. I also asked him to level off our gravel driveway.

One evening as I was coming home, I made the turn from the street into my driveway only to be head to head with a front-end loader that he was using to scrape the gravel back to level. The front-end loader has a tinted front windshield, and what I saw made me stop and burst into laughter. His very young son was “driving” that large piece of equipment, dragging the gravel as he moved in reverse. He had the steering wheel in both hands, and he had a smile on his face that just said it all. He was truly enjoying himself, especially when he could show me, an adult, what he was able to do.

Since the windshield was tinted, and the sun was shining, I couldn’t see into the cab farther then the boy. What I couldn’t see, but knew he was there, was the dad. At least I hoped he was there…

As I thought about that scene later, I couldn’t help but draw a parallel to how Jesus is actually doing the work, unseen, and how we are the ones who get to “show-off.” It is an amazing display of that dad’s love for his kids, just like it is an amazing display of God’s love for us, His beloved children.

While the boy was having the time of his life, if his skills never develop beyond the ability he possessed that day, what skill he has will be of little use. He is totally enjoying “driving” the equipment now, but the day must come when he puts away childish things, and becomes a man.

It is the same with us. Are you hanging on to childish things that must be let go to serve the Lord? Ask God to show you…