A mystery in preschool that had to be solved...
The class was learning the ropes of coming to school and how to behave in class.
One little boy, we will call him Sam, came every morning on the bus and seemed happy and relaxed to be there. He played in the groups of other children just fine.
Sam made friends, and they went from center to center in the classroom learning about numbers, letters and sounds. He tried his best to do what the teacher wanted him to do.
After lunch, they all went out to the playground to have fun running, jumping, chasing and flying on the swings. He started out fine, playing with other children, but soon he became frustrated and angry.
When Sam got back to the room, he was fussy, irritated, kicking and acting out. Nothing would soothe him. No amount of “talking to” succeeded.
His teacher asked him what was wrong, but he would not or could not explain it.
He cried on the way to the bathroom when it was bathroom break time. He kicked and fussed when it was nap time on the colorful mats. He wouldn’t come to groups. He was angry and miserable.
One day Sam was so frustrated that he was kicking constantly on his rest mat. His shoes had become untied, and as he kicked, they flew across the room.
Instantly, he calmed down, smiled and drifted off to sleep.
Instantly, his teacher solved the mystery.
It was obvious his shoes were too little!
Bless his heart, he made it part of the day wearing the terribly too small shoes that pinched and hurt his toes and feet. But after lunch he hurt so badly, he couldn’t stand it any more. It was a growing problem!
New shoes were acquired and Sam was a perfectly normal little boy — happy and eager to learn.
Do you have on shoes that are too small? Of course not!
Are you growing in your “spiritual shoes”? The Bible talks about how we start out in our Christian life and how we grow.
Paul says in I Corinthians 3:1-4: “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. Are you not acting like mere humans?”
God expects us to grow in our faith and become mature Christians. Attend church, study your Bible, pray about everything, serve others and give to reach others.
Stop kicking! And grow into your big boy or big girl shoes!
