Don't Make Me Count To Three!

I stopped to visit a friend on my way home from work today. And I watched with joy as he and his 4 year old son played outside. I'm new in his son's life, so he is still unsure about me and decided to test his dad in front of an audience. As an adult, and a parent myself, I knew what was about to happen to this little guy, but he had no idea. His dad asked him to do something and the son just laughed and twirled around in his swing. Dad asked again...more twirling, while watching my reaction out of the corner of his eye. Then the final warning sounded. "I'm gonna count to three then you are going to get a spanking and go inside". With the count of 1, I thought, "uh oh, it's a show down", then came 2, and a move from the swing to the slide while dad headed closer to the swing set, and then, the dreaded 3. The son could hardly contain his satisfaction, he thought he won....and as i watched the dad walk over and spank his son and send him on his way, my thoughts went directly to the father. How he must have hated to follow through and cut play time short. How he must have been hoping that his son would comply with his request. How he knew that failing to follow through would rob his son of a valuable lesson. And how he hoped that his son would not make the same mistake when in the same situation again.

Sound familiar? I began thinking to myself...how many times have I made my Father count to three? How many spankings have I forced Him to deliver? How often have I challenged His authority? and when did I learn that "Father knows best"?

"The Will of God will never lead you, where the Grace of God cannot keep you"...

Oh, the tears and devastation we could save ourselves, if only we would heed the warnings of our Father the first time....

Today, I am thankful that our Father suffered the ultimate punishment, so would never make it to that countdown.

In His Grip,
CeeKay