Keep Your Helmets On
Numbers 11:14
…the burden is too heavy for me.
Once upon a time, I heard a story of a father with his daughter at the train station. The girl and her daddy were deep in conversation when she asked him a question about choices. The daddy looked tenderly at his little girl and told her this,
“When we were coming to the train station, we had many things to carry with us. We filled up our suitcases and Daddy lifted and carried his and yours too. Do you know why?” he queried.
“You had to carry them Daddy. I’m too little. I’m not strong enough, they would be too heavy for me.”
“That’s right” Daddy responded. “And just like the weight of these suitcases is too heavy for you so is the weight of the answers for the questions you are asking. There are some things that Daddy knows that you do not need to know right now. In time, as you grow, you will be ready but for right now the burden is too heavy.”
This Daddy was protecting his little girl from the burden of this world. We do not want our children to live in ignorance or without the discernment to distinguish right from wrong but at the same time, we need to safeguard them from things that are too much for them.
This week, we took part in horseback riding lessons with our girls. Everyone was to wear a helmet – even when they weren’t on a horse! That might seem a little bit over-protective but if you have ever spent time in a barn you know that anything can happen and there is rarely time to react.
By securing the heads of our children, we are keeping them from what could be irreparable damage. Guarding the information that they take in on TV, movies, books or even with friends, we can spare them the hurt and anguish of encountering sins that are too big for them to carry.
I encourage you to be aware of those things in which your children are involved. What are they hearing? What are they seeing? God is so clear about keeping our hearts pure. What benefits are there in innocence lost?
Ephesians 5:12
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.