I love horses more than you (and a reference to Phil Roberston a la mode)

Despite the fact that Abbey is a "non-verbal" child..she can still get her point across. The other night at dinner she started to throw a MASSIVE temper tantrum (I know it's hard to believe it, but I'm talking full on kicking, yelling, pulling hair, ect) because  Ryan was going to feed her dinner instead of me. So we put her in her room for a time out and to calm down. After really going at it for a while in her room, Ryan has to leave and so he goes into the doorway and signs "I love you" to which abbey starts to yell again, leans toward him, and signs back "I love horses!"  Now Ryan and I are both literally cracking up! SO FUNNY! How about that for a pre-teen response to a dad she's mad at?? HILARIOUS She wasn't sure how not to say "I love you" back, and so she settled for telling him she loved horses more.

Of course, you know how a good Abbey story always gets me thinking. Aren't we just like that when God wants us to do something we don't want to do?  How about when he wants us to STOP doing something that we shouldn't be doing?  Don't we just sort of throw an adult temper tantrum at God and in effect sign back, "I love _____ more than you!"  I know I do...sometimes I love socializing more than hearing God's Word at church.  Sometimes I love reading a good book more than reading God's word.  Sometimes I love sin more than doing what God's Word says to do.  I probably wouldn't lay down on the ground and kick and scream, but  I can ignore God all together and pretend I don't know the truth.  There are about a million ways to get my point across to God without ever saying a single word.  He knows my heart, he knows my "signs."

Hey, riding horses is a great thing for Abbey.  Ask anyone who knows anything about horses and they'll probably talk your ear off about it!  I want Abbey to love horses...I even love that she loves them.  But they should never take the place of her father who adores her, knows what's best for her, and sometimes disciplines her out of that love. So, even a good thing can become an idol.

Horses can also be very dangerous.  There is a reason you have to find the exact temperament of horse to put a disabled child on.  They're huge, they're heavy, and one swift kick to the wrong place can literally kill you. So, sometimes the things we love can also be extremely dangerous if we do not take caution and do them the way God wants them to be done.  

So the question is, what do I love more than God right now?  What do you love?  Are we being selfish, and stubborn, and throwing an "inside" adult temper tantrum at God because we don't like what his Word has to say?  The thing is, it's not funny.  It's not something to joke and laugh about because we know better...we have the mind to understand and a will to obey.  

I don't know, maybe because it's almost Christmas, but I keep thinking God gave it all up for me.   All heaven's glory and perfection in exchange for blood and dirt and sweat and tears. For me. For you.  Out of  lavish and costly love he came an obeyed the Father.  This is what I pursue...the acceptance of that kind of lavish love, and to respond likewise.  Out of great love for him, to do my best to know Him who died for me and follow him in obedience.  It's not a popular choice in America today to follow Jesus with your whole life.  It's much more acceptable to occasionally go to church and do your best not to speak his name socially.  (Certainly don't take a stance on anything controversial, Phil Roberston!) Or better yet, believe in God and be a good person but never once submit your life to Christ.  Those are perfectly good alternatives. 

Well to me, that's just loving the world too much.  He created it to be enjoyed, to be lived in, to be a part of...but not to worship.

Joshua 24:15 ^"And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”