I don’t know about yours, but my kids are crazy about costumes – anytime, anyplace, for any occasion they’ll put ’em on. And since we’re in October the fever has grown two-fold. Brody has already morphed into a werewolf multiple times, completely disregarding the full moon thing and at 15 months, Bethany already begs to climb into her moo cow onesie or her Minnie Mouse outfit. She cries inconsolably when we try to take her out of it.
“What is it with these kids and their costumes?”. I thought to myself.
“It’s crazy! What gets into a child that prompts them to get into something else…if not an insatiable desire to be something or resemble someone?”
It’s as if something or someone, from a very early point stirs deep within them and whispers, “You can be more than what you are. You can be different than what you see around you. You can excite the world. Go ahead! Give it a whirl.”
You know, I’m not sure much changes with age. Time and experience certainly mature us. The things we go through have ways of galvanizing us and if we’re not careful certain hardships (and how we handle them) can harden our hearts. Even more dangerously, they can make us hard of hearing. I’m confident, however, that the same inner voice continues to persuade and push and prod, “You’re more than what you can see. You’re capable of being different than the world around you. You…can…be…like…me.”
As Christ followers we’re all just children trying to walk in the way of someone we long to be like.
In his letter to the church in Galatia, the Apostle Paul iterates,
“In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal. 3: 26-27).
“Children, clothe yourselves with Christ.” I wonder if we might give it a whirl before the day begins? Don’t wait for a special occasion. Be obedient to the prompt. Perhaps we might grow to be more like our children.
In Christ,
Pastor Jake