One morning I was sitting on a bench at the park while I watched my grandson playing on the swings. A young mother was there with her little girl. The toddler was laughing and running all around and ran right over an ant bed. At this point, the mother, raising her voice, said, "Stay away from that!" The child seem oblivious to the ant bed and continued to play close by and several minutes later, almost stepped in the ant bed again. Her mother said, "I TOLD YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THERE!" She looked like she was about to give the little one a spat.
I turned around and said, "You, know, I don't think she has seen the ants. Maybe you could show her and explain that they sting. So then, the mother, got on her knees, pointed to the ants and explained to the child how these ants could hurt her. It was then the little girl seemed to see them for the first time, although it was apparent that she didn't understand the danger as she reached out to them with her tiny little hands.
As I thought about this, I wondered, how often do we as mature Christians react very much like this mother? Do we simply say to a young Christian, "Stay away from that" and expect them to know the harm of certain sins? When in reality they don't see nor understand!
"Lord,help me to realize that young Christians may not see some things as sin nor understand the danger of the sting and hurt that they can bring. Help me to have patience and a willingness to get on my knees and then in love help to guide and direct. . . and to be there with a soothing ointment when they are stung!"
