Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-09-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, breathe in and out.

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
Proverbs 9:12, NASB

True comprehension of this message may be the definitive mark of transition from childhood into maturity. At a minimum, it’s in the ‘necessary but not sufficient’ category.

At first, children require both compulsion and supervision to carry out chores. With some maturity, constant supervision is no longer needed. Later, they only require instruction, and parents sigh with relief. 

It’s a progression. 
It’s a progression that takes a million years, it seems; that’s the perspective of the parent. 

From the child’s perspective, it’s eternal: 

“They are ALWAYS telling me to do this, do that, do it better, do it over! Why can’t they leave me alone?”

Oh, child, if only we could! It would be MUCH easier to do it ourselves than to get you to do it! We don’t have that option, though. You just have to clean your room; we have to produce responsible, productive adults. The tasks we demand of you are just training exercises; they are not an end in themselves.

Yes, we know you think we treat you like slaves; we grumbled the exact same thing, when we were the ones raking the leaves and taking out the trash. 

Parents CAN get stupid, and try to explain it:

“It’s for your own good.” (Don’t be so good to me!) 

“You’ll thank me for this one day.” (I’d thank you TODAY, if you’d just leave me alone!)

Don’t try to explain, parents; just persevere. They’ll understand it, by and by.

That’s what we hope, anyway.


Peace be on your household.

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