"NOT MY CHILD"

Has someone ever come to you and told you that your child was behaving inappropriately or have you ever caught your child doing something that they knew was wrong? It's not a good feeling. Then comes the punishment, depending on the offense determines the severity of the punishment. One punishment in particular that I remember during my teen years was not being able to go out with my friends when I had planned to. I had my outfit all ready and boy, was I excited but, because I had broken the rules my plans were cancelled. As, a mom I've come to realize that it's a great disappointment to see your child rebel or make mistakes. We want so bad to believe the best of our children and we're quick to say, "Not my child". Well, this is how God feels about us. It hurts him when we sin and go against the boundaries he has set for us. He feels what we feel, when we say, "My child wouldn't do something like that," and just like it is in your home there is punishment when we go against God's rules, plans are cancelled and blessings are missed. My parents would often say, "this is going to hurt me, more than it hurts you" and in my mind I would think they had to be joking. Look at it this way, God has great plans for each of us and when we begin to walk in disobedirnce it must truly hurt Him to see us miss out on the greatness that he has planned in our life. Do you want to live a life full of God's promises and blessings? Of course, you do? Have you ever looked at what's in your life that could be causing God to say, "Not my Child"? What areas in your life can you begin to work on today that would make your Heavenly Father say, "NOW THAT'S MY CHILD"?