Addie's Evil Heart of Unbelief

A constant struggle in the Baird household is making our oldest daughter (Addie Leigh) stay in bed. Tonight she got out of bed four (make that five) times. We disciplined her three times, and talked with her each time. I explained to her that by getting out of bed she was being disobedient, but even worse, she didn't trust me. When she gets out of bed she believes that by getting out of bed it will be better for her than if she obeys me and stays in bed. Here we have a little atheist in the making. Wanting to "do what is right in her own eyes." I asked her who knew what was better for her... Addie or daddy? To which she responded (rightly) "daddy." Maybe it was just lip service, but at least she knew the right answer.

As parents it is our job to instill confidence (in us as parents) in our children so that obedience becomes a matter of trust.

Ok, so while you're thinking about how your kids don't trust you, I'm going to throw it back in your (my) own face. Think about how many times that we, by our actions, disbelieve God. We think that by lying on our resume (don't try to get sophisticated on me and say you are embellishing), or covering up our mistake at work, or eating those two (or four) extra donuts, or (men) lingering a little longer at the Victoria's Secret store, or (women) watching the soap opera or reading the trashy romance novel, that somehow by doing these things, we will be better off than if we take God at His word when He says "do not lie," or when He says "do not be a glutton", or when He says that there shouldn't even be a hint of sexual immorality among us (I need Scott Dunn to help me construct this extremely long sentence properly). All sin can be traced back to the root of unbelief. We don't take God at His word and believe that by sinning we will be better off than trusting and obeying God. When are you (am I) going to grow up and believe our Father?

We Should Struggle Like Jill

I am currently scanning Jill's journal and it makes me feel like a spiritual midget ("little person" if you want the PC terminology). Jill had spiritual struggles like we all do, but she handled them so biblically. It was said of John Bunyan by Charles Spurgeon that his blood was bibline. "Prick him anywhere and he bleeds scripture." The same could certainly be said about Jill. In her journal there are segments of Scripture and segments of her personal thought, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which. Her mind was saturated with God's word. I want to be like that, I want to bleed Bible.