Child's Play and Christianity

I was talking with a friend recently, and she told me an interesting story about a little boy that she nannies. The little boy's name is Michael. He is a fun, rambunctuous little boy. He loves to explore and discover. Just a classic little boy.

My friend has watched Michael for a little while now, and she has seen how he has grown up. Now that he can walk and crawl and get around a little bit, my friend has watched him travel all over the house. He explored everything and just loved discovering all that he could. But then he reached a point when he had seen everything. He had been everywhere in the house. He had played with all the toys. He had crawled in all the rooms. He had been there, done that. And now he needed something else.

I guess Michae proceeded to get into trouble by touching the things that he was not supposed to get and getting into the places that he was not supposed to get into. My friend told me that since Michael had been everywhere and done everything - now he was exploring into the places where he wasn't allowed to go and touching the things he wasn't allowed to touch.


Isn't this how we are, too?


We all have a desire to explore and discover. None of us want to be bored and predictable. We want to have fun and have adventures and stuff like that. Yet - just like Michael - we can find ourselves in a situation where we have been there and done all that already. We are bored with our surroundings, our situation, and our life, basically.

So what do we do? Just like Michael, we start to touch the things we shouldn't touch and go to the places where we shouldn't go and do the things we shouldn't do. It's the only excitement we can find. It's the only new thing that we have in our life. It's the only thing that is yet unexplored. And so out of a psuedo-desperation and need - we just get ourselves into trouble.

So what should we do then? I think a simple answer might be best. Go find something else that you haven't explored - something that is good and right - and explore it. There are so many things to do in this world and so many areas that need help and so many people who are ripe for relationship that we should never be bored enough to resort to cheap and harmful amusements. You cannot tell me that you have done every adventure available on earth and explored every type of world situation and interesting facet of God's creation. No way.

So get on out there. Explore. Discover. Enjoy. Something new.

Maybe Michael will be there, too.