Baby Steps
Thought For The Week 156 By Val Warsop
James Banks, of Our Daily Bread, tells a delightful story about his eleven-month-old grandson. Apparently, his daughter gave the child her mobile phone for a moment [to entertain him] and within a minute the little one had connected to his grandfather via, it is assumed, speed dial. Grandad was, of course, delighted to hear the piping voice; and baby, recognising his grandad’s voice, chattered happily. “…he knows my voice and responds to it.” James wrote, “So I talked to him…”
I enjoyed this heart-warming tale and, as I read it, imagined the scene. Then my mind flew swiftly towards all the people, over the years, who have told me they don’t know how to pray, how to speak to Yahweh, or what to say to Him. Pictures of them struggling to communicate flooded in, but then my heart lifted with joy, as I found myself smiling at the thought of how delighted our heavenly Father must be as we take our first ‘baby steps’ in communication.
Yahshua taught us to call Yahweh, ‘Father’! And since He is our Father, we don’t need to adopt a formal voice to speak to Him, or, in fact, any way that is different from normal. Sometimes ‘normal’ will be serious or formal, but it’s also acceptable to ‘chatter’ to Him! Yahweh doesn’t mind if we’re taking baby steps towards Him, the joy for Him is in our seeking Him out for ourselves. We can even ‘have a moan’, which is something that we do with people who are close to us! The prophet Jeremiah taught me that. Whilst always respectful, he wasn’t afraid to question Yahweh, “I would speak with you about your justice” [Jer. 12:1 NIV], he said one day. Or “Let me bring you this complaint” [NLT].
We are blessed with little ones in our congregation, and I see the way they interact with their fathers, noting the levels of delight these men have in baby talk and simple chatter; I also watch developing relationships with pleasure. Be respectful of Yahweh’s greatness, but don’t deprive Him of your ‘chatter’ as you learn how to communicate with Him and develop your relationship.
Photo by RetyiRetyi
https://pixabay.com/en/boy-childhood-steps-teddy-1916204/
You Are The BranchesClick to see the whole passage:
1 timothy 3:16 NIV - Beyond all question, the mystery from - Bible Gateway
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