More Potty Training - HEBREWS 12:1-2

You may remember from a previous blog that my son is potty training. You might also remember that I said he loves having fun, playing games, and enjoys his toys. He’ll play by himself in his room for hours on end. He doesn’t like to stop for anything. We introduced this whole “going on the big boy potty” concept, and his world is upside down. Got that fresh in your mind.

Okay, so, yesterday, I walked into the house after work and heard, "I gotta go potty, Mommy." I heard those memorable dancing footsteps of a boy who waited waaay too long. Then I heard, "Uh oh, Mommy." I knew that an "accident" had occurred. I ran to the bathroom and there was my son with a small trail of something behind him. I proceeded to give my son that prophetic exhortation of being focused and aware of when he needed to go potty to keep from having "accidents." His 2 year old response was, "It's okay, Dadda, it was just an accident."

To be honest, it didn't hit me until about 2:00 AM as I wrestled in my bed, having some unrest in my heart, that the "accident" had become and "incident." My son is too young to recognize the severity of learning to potty train now because perhaps in his mind it is "okay." After all, it's just an accident.

If you are like me you have heard the statement, "I fell into sin," or "I slipped into sin." The reality for many of us is that we hardly ever recognize that James says that sin is the part of the equation right before death. Long before that, we are led astray and enticed. You see, Simeon loved playing with his sister and his toys so much that he neglected to let go of the waste in his system. For those who would say, "He's two, it's only water." Hey, Hebrews 12 talks about the sin "and the weights that so easily set us back." And think, for the next 30 minutes, he couldn't play with his toys, because we needed to clean the carpet, rinse him off, and give that prophetic exhortation. Even Jada's world was cracked up by his "accident" because she couldn't play in his room at that time either. But that didn't stop either of them from crying. It was like they were begging to go into the room. I mean, who cares that urine is soaking the carpet or that it is on toys that often end up in my 15 month old daughters hands and (if you know that age of children) mouth. If you think THAT'S nasty, keep reading.

I stressed the importance to Simeon of staying focused and aware, being vigilant and alert, and it didn't hit me until 2:00 a.m. that the exhortation was to me as well. I can get so distracted with family, work, sports, relaxation, teaching, writing, fundraising, etc. that I neglect to check my own heart. I get led astray and enticed, and before I know it, I am spiritually having an "accident." Yet, sometimes we say, "Well, it's okay. Nobody is perfect." It's like we're immaturely begging God to let us go play in the room where the stinch of our sin saturates certain relationships and memories. And some of those toys that are poisonous spiritual urine end up in our immature hands and mouths. And that "accident" becomes an "incident."

Oh that we would live each day as mature believers, getting the waste out as soon as we feel it coming, being proactive and vigilant, aware and focused.  How can we do that? The writer of Hebrews answers that question so eloquently, by "...looking to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..." Where are your spiritual eyes today? Is God's only way to get you to look up by knocking you flat on your back? Just remember, you can't be focused on Jesus and on the world at the same time.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.