Are you smarter than a 5th grader?
A mom and three 5th grade girls waited in line at the bagel shop. After they placed their order, the girls moved over toward the end of the counter looking at one of their phones, and that’s where I overheard one sweet young thing tell her two friends, “No! Don’t do that. That uses data. And data is money!” I nudged the mom and told her what her daughter said. The mom smiled and said, “That’s her dad! He drills it into her.”
Not every child is so quick to speak the words of her father. Or to obey them.
Including me.
As a child of God, how often do I know what my heavenly Father asks of me, but don’t do it. My tongue betrays me. My attitude convicts me. As Paul writes in Romans 7, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. … I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”
I know the words of my Father as surely as my 5th grade friend knows her father’s words. But do I declare them boldly in the midst of opposition? Do I heed them even in secret? Do I harbor bitterness or resentment though my Daddy calls me to forgive? When I see my sin, do I close my eyes to it? Or do I identify with Paul as a miserable person crying out to the One who can free me?
Thankfully, my Father is always within earshot. And Paul answers his question, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” In the next chapter, he declares, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”
Praise God for forgiving me. May the power of the Spirit enable me to speak my Father’s words, to heed His commands, to shine His light for all to see. May He drill his life-giving words into me, and may I never hesitate to obey. May I be as smart as my little 5th grade friend.
You have convicted me with so many points in your devotion, Susan. Do I always head His Word? Am I portraying the Loving Father in the way I live? Sometimes my thoughts don’t align with Him and His grace.
Again and again in this column, I see the desire to p!ease God, to live like the Son. That is our constant aim. A good word.