Luke Scallon
Pastor, Faith Baptist Church of Danville

Published in The Des Moines County News on April 14, 2016

Heartbroken.  There is no better word to describe my son after he lost his rare piece of candy.  He wailed upon news of his loss.  Through the rest of the evening, his face sank to pouting upon every remembrance of his tragedy.  It was a necessary consequence that came with (too many) warnings, as he has been testing our boundaries and willfully disobeying.  It was certainly clear that he was remorseful only about his consequences, so… it was time to talk.

He needed to see that he was not alone in suffering the consequences of his sin, and that Mama and Daddy were not “mean” to take away the candy.  I took our children to a Bible story familiar to them, starting with an empty world, where God began to create everything that is in it.  Before creation, there were no trees, no water, no houses… not even Grandpa and Grandma were here yet.  They helped me to piece together the story by answering questions and interrupting to tell more details.

On day 6, God created a man named Adam and a woman named Eve.  These were real people in real history, when God really did create the world.  They had a special friendship with God, and God blessed them and provided everything they needed.  They were not hungry; they had so many delicious foods available to them in the garden!  There was only one tree that God had forbidden them to eat from.  One.

“But I want it, I want it…”  I dramatized their typical argument when they are told “no.”  Once Adam and Eve thought about how much they wanted that particular fruit, they decided that what they wanted was more important than obeying.  We have a saying in our house:  “It doesn’t matter what you want, what matters is obeying.”  We certainly allow our kids to express their desires, but we want them to know that their desires will never justify disobeying.

Disobedience has consequences.  Adam and Eve could not be in the Garden of Eden anymore.  “That was mean of God,” my son responded.  But God knew what was best.  He was not mean to withhold that one fruit, nor was he mean to exile them from the garden.  In fact, he had a plan of restoration that meant someday sending his son Jesus into the world to die for all of our sins, so that we could be in heaven with him.  When we disobey, we lose our blessings… but God is so good, he offers us forgiveness, if we accept it.

I confess, I am weary of disobedience, and some days I want to give up!  This parenting business is hard.  But I remember that this life is like a production line, and we are not finished products.  When I see faults in my children, I have the privilege of guiding them to correction – just as I also am still learning!