A man is working in his garden on a hot summer day. Behind him trails his young five year old son pretending to help his daddy. As the man finishes weeding a long row of vegetables he stands and wipes the sweat off his head. Almost to himself he says, "Man, I need something to drink."
The young boy hears this. Wanting to please his father, the boy races to the house. He finds an old, rusty tuna can laying in the yard. He takes it over to the water spigot. Unable to turn the spigot on, he stands there patiently as the dripping, lukewarm water fills that filthy can. Pleased with himself, the boy carefully walks back to the garden where his father is tending another row. He holds the can up with both hands and as he smiles he says, "Here Daddy."
The man looks down at that dirty, warm water. He sees the smile on his son's face. What do you think the man does? He drinks that water of course. He drinks it and acts like it's the coldest, best water he's ever tasted, smacks his lips and says, "Now that hit the spot." He knows the effort the son gave to please him. He wants the boy to know he appreciates what he did. You better believe that made the boy feel like a hero inside. Now what do you think the man's reaction would have been if the son had been 14 years old instead of 5?
Why are so many of us trying to get by with the same actions, the same effort in our walk with God that we put forth when we were new Christians? Why do we think that effort or lack of it is going to please Him? How many of us are not growing; not doing more? Too many of us are no more involved in our congregations, our giving, our Bible reading, our prayer life or missions than we were years ago. Yet we wonder why the church doesn't grow or why our congregations don't grow. We wonder why things aren't better. What are we doing to make them better? Which child are we?
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