Even A Child...

Proverbs 20:11 says "Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right."

Sigh....That's how I feel when I read that verse. On the one hand it reinforces the importance that I place on training my children, discipline, and the like. But on the other more depressing hand, it reminds me that, unfortunately, even children build reputations based on their behaviors.

I wish it wasn't like that. I wish that people could see into the hearts of my children the way that I do. I would like for people to see David acting crazy and be able to reason, "He's tired. He's had a long day or he is just overwhelmed." Whatever the underlying reason is for his behavior. But that is usually not the case.

Which leads into my coversation with David yesterday. So he was wearing his Burger King crown yesterday in the car. When I looked in the rearview mirror I exclaimed, "David, you're a king!" His response? "No, I'm just a kid." Okay, so at this point I'm clueing into the spiritual lesson to be taught here. I respond, "David, you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. It doesn't matter if you take your crown off. You are still a child of the king."

Proverbs 20 also says, in verse 27, that "the lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being."

Thank you for that redeeming last point! My kids' heavenly father will search out their spirits. Even when they act crazy, He will search their hearts to understand the reasons and motivations for their behaviors. He will know that they are Kingdom children even when they don't wear their crowns.

Ah, the grace of God. Not only to my children but to me too.