My wife and I are fresh off of a quick visit to middle Tennessee to see our daughter and her family. It was a short trip, to be sure – over and back in a night and a day. But, as we had not seen our precious grandson since before Christmas, it was well worth the time and effort.
Now, do not worry; it is not my intention to fill the remainder of my blog post with the exploits of my fourteen month old grandson. Although, like most all proud grandparents, I certainly could! However, as I spent time in my daughter’s home, I could not but notice one overpowering phenomenon, which I would like to share. Everywhere one turns, there is now indisputable proof that a child has taken up residence in their home!
You see, with the birth of their son, the lives of my daughter and son-in-law have changed significantly. And I do mean radically. For everything now centers on their son. To begin with, all the standard child-proofing has occurred. There are no electrical outlets without plugs. All the cabinets have devices which prevent them from being opened by anyone except an adult. The stairs are lines at both the top and the bottom with hinged gates. All breakable items have been placed high up on shelves; and as a general rule, nothing is accessible to a toddler that could conceivably cause harm.
Beyond these fundamental things, the décor of the house also reflects his presence. There is less and less decoration echoing the tastes of mom and dad, as thirty year olds, and more and more items revealing the presence in their home of a special little child. This is true on both a large and small scale. From an entire room dedicated for use as a nursery to a guest bathroom flush with the accoutrements needed to clean and pamper a baby.
Likewise, their kitchen and dining room now amply bespeak the presence of a little boy. The existence of highchairs, sippy cups, and specialized plates and cutlery all testify to his residence there, as does their refrigerator and cabinets, which now contain copious supplies of whole milk, kid-friendly table foods, and, obviously, goldfish and similar snacks in abundance.
And all of this is to say nothing of the living room. Here, as might be expected, one encounters an ever growing accumulation of playpens, toys, board-books, puzzles, and electronic gadgets - all devoted to the singular interests of a growing child. Of course, remote controls, smart phones, and tablets are among those things placed high up and made inaccessible to the reach of prying hands.
Beyond this, parental controls have been assiduously applied to electronic devices, and especially to the television, circumventing even an accidental display of inappropriate programming. I especially applaud them in this last safeguard; for once imprinted on a young mind, even if by accident, inappropriate material is hard to expunge.
In general, if you or any member of your family has ever brought a little child into your home, then the things I have outlined above are fairly typical. Most all loving parents and grandparents want to protect the precious young lives entrusted to them by Almighty God. And yet, the irony is that in applying such safeguards for our children, we also safeguard ourselves.
This is particularly true when it comes to media. For instance, the vast majority of time that the television is on in my daughter’s home these days, it is on trusted channels offering morally upright programming suitable for children. This is not to imply that my daughter and her husband watched morally indefensible programming on their television before they became parents. Not at all! But it is to say that they have become especially sensitive to such matters with the newfound presence of their son in their home!
And this leads me to the real point of my post today… You and I may or may not have a new son or daughter of our own abiding in our respective homes. But, if we profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, then we do have the presence of God’s Son in our homes. Now, if the Son of God is living in our homes, then surely we should give overwhelming evidence of His presence there!
Everything in our midst should reflect the fact that He is now among us! And that what is in His best interest is now also what is in our best interest! And that should show up in every room of our dwelling, in everything we have on display there, and in everything we allow to come into our homes!
May we as believers be faithful, therefore, to reflect just exactly Who our one true priority is! May we, like those to whom the Apostle Peter spoke so long ago, remember to “set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts” (1 Peter 3:15, NET), providing proof in the process, that the Son of God truly is Lord and Master of our lives.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-15.htm.
Now, do not worry; it is not my intention to fill the remainder of my blog post with the exploits of my fourteen month old grandson. Although, like most all proud grandparents, I certainly could! However, as I spent time in my daughter’s home, I could not but notice one overpowering phenomenon, which I would like to share. Everywhere one turns, there is now indisputable proof that a child has taken up residence in their home!
You see, with the birth of their son, the lives of my daughter and son-in-law have changed significantly. And I do mean radically. For everything now centers on their son. To begin with, all the standard child-proofing has occurred. There are no electrical outlets without plugs. All the cabinets have devices which prevent them from being opened by anyone except an adult. The stairs are lines at both the top and the bottom with hinged gates. All breakable items have been placed high up on shelves; and as a general rule, nothing is accessible to a toddler that could conceivably cause harm.
Beyond these fundamental things, the décor of the house also reflects his presence. There is less and less decoration echoing the tastes of mom and dad, as thirty year olds, and more and more items revealing the presence in their home of a special little child. This is true on both a large and small scale. From an entire room dedicated for use as a nursery to a guest bathroom flush with the accoutrements needed to clean and pamper a baby.
Likewise, their kitchen and dining room now amply bespeak the presence of a little boy. The existence of highchairs, sippy cups, and specialized plates and cutlery all testify to his residence there, as does their refrigerator and cabinets, which now contain copious supplies of whole milk, kid-friendly table foods, and, obviously, goldfish and similar snacks in abundance.
And all of this is to say nothing of the living room. Here, as might be expected, one encounters an ever growing accumulation of playpens, toys, board-books, puzzles, and electronic gadgets - all devoted to the singular interests of a growing child. Of course, remote controls, smart phones, and tablets are among those things placed high up and made inaccessible to the reach of prying hands.
Beyond this, parental controls have been assiduously applied to electronic devices, and especially to the television, circumventing even an accidental display of inappropriate programming. I especially applaud them in this last safeguard; for once imprinted on a young mind, even if by accident, inappropriate material is hard to expunge.
In general, if you or any member of your family has ever brought a little child into your home, then the things I have outlined above are fairly typical. Most all loving parents and grandparents want to protect the precious young lives entrusted to them by Almighty God. And yet, the irony is that in applying such safeguards for our children, we also safeguard ourselves.
This is particularly true when it comes to media. For instance, the vast majority of time that the television is on in my daughter’s home these days, it is on trusted channels offering morally upright programming suitable for children. This is not to imply that my daughter and her husband watched morally indefensible programming on their television before they became parents. Not at all! But it is to say that they have become especially sensitive to such matters with the newfound presence of their son in their home!
And this leads me to the real point of my post today… You and I may or may not have a new son or daughter of our own abiding in our respective homes. But, if we profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, then we do have the presence of God’s Son in our homes. Now, if the Son of God is living in our homes, then surely we should give overwhelming evidence of His presence there!
Everything in our midst should reflect the fact that He is now among us! And that what is in His best interest is now also what is in our best interest! And that should show up in every room of our dwelling, in everything we have on display there, and in everything we allow to come into our homes!
May we as believers be faithful, therefore, to reflect just exactly Who our one true priority is! May we, like those to whom the Apostle Peter spoke so long ago, remember to “set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts” (1 Peter 3:15, NET), providing proof in the process, that the Son of God truly is Lord and Master of our lives.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-15.htm.