Father Knows Best: Do Right

Devotional
I prefer to take the children with me when I go grocery shopping. It gives them a first hand look at what an active daddy does. Usually, I get to have snacks with them or teach them some kind of object lesson.

Today was a very unusual case, as the object lesson was very obvious and played out right before our eyes.

There was an elderly woman in front of us when we were leaving the supermarket. She took her own sweet time (ours, too) exiting. My son, the ever energetic dynamo, wanted to bust past her by squeezing through a tiny space between her and the door.

“No, Scotty. Wait, sugar.” You may notice the repetition. I do that for emphasis. The old woman heard, and beckoned us to go through. I declined, giving her the privilege of going through first. She told us, again, to go, and I declined. I insisted that she go first.

“Please,” I said, “After you. I’m teaching them patience. If they don’t learn now, what will happen when they become teenagers?” She smiled and hobbled along at a snail’s pace. I offered to help her get her cart through the gate, but she decided to try her absolute best to use her own effort and strength to succeed.

After a good minute of intensive, deliberate effort, she victoriously pulled her cart through. Before I could even congratulate her for her success, a young man in his early twenties rocketed past us with a forceful gait, so fast that we did not have time to even see him approaching in periphery.

With a smile of confidence and wisdom, I looked down at my two children, who were looking up at me. They knew exactly what I was going to say. There was the lesson, illustrated as plain as day, right before their very eyes. They understood what I was trying to teach them.

We daddies don’t always have to berate our children in order to get the point across. Sometimes they’ll see it for themselves in a convincing manner.

That’s what God does. He will show you what is right to do and expect you to live up to it. Isn’t is great that God instructs us on what he wants done, and doesn’t thunder down his ferocious disapproval when we miss the mark?

Give this some thought. Let me know what you think...

Take care, and influence someone for good today :D
Scott, The Active Daddy

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