Things having children taught me

After a rough night with Abigail and Isaac both running a temperature and not sleeping well, I was awake in bed at two in the morning and I had an epiphany. Seeing my children suffering and just wanting to be able to make them feel better I started thinking about how God the Father sent Christ the Son to earth knowing he would have to endure suffering.

Acts 2: 22-24 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

God knew all along that Christ would suffer and die. God had the power to stop it. And God allowed it to happen so that we may have redemption through Christ. Wow! And it was no small amount of suffering, Christ knew physical pain, but also emotional turmoil. Jesus prayed asking for another path to be taken:

Matt 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt].

Another thing I realized was how frustrating it must be when we try to make our own way in this world and still expect to recieve the salvation God offers. When I tell Isaac or Abigail to do something they're typical response is, "But I want..." And at times I just want to scream, "Just do what I told you to do how I told you to do it!" I can imagine how frustrating it must be to God when He's given us the Bible and told us exactly what we must do to obtain eternal life and yet so many today respond, "But I want..." But I want to say this prayer and then Jesus will come into my heart; But I want to live a good life and God will accept me; But my preacher/pastor/minister told me I need to... and I will be saved." And all the while the Bible tells us time after time what we MUST do.
On the day of Pentecost during the first gospel sermon:

Acts 2:37-38 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call.

What about the conversion of Saul/Paul?

Acts 22: 6-16 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt [there], Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

From just these two examples we can see that we must hear about Jesus, believe that Jesus is the Christ, repent of our sins, confess the name of Jesus, and be baptized/immersed to wash away our sins. So why all the "but I wants?" lets just do it the way we're told to do it.

Now I need a nap because that was a lot of heavy thinking for so early in the morning. And I'm glad to report that Isaac and Abigail are currently feeling better.