Galatians 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

As we grow in Christ, what is the next step after toddler? I suspect the playground might be a good focal point. Mother or father might take you to the playground with a mind to burn off some of that exuberant energy and provide a safe place to play. Being an older Christian we have already experienced play things, perhaps to our own hurt. What might we learn?

You already have a set of playmates in place. Some of them might well be family members. As with all things new, you will naturally want to share good news with those in your life. This means a certain amount of confession which will make those you know best uncomfortable. Why? It is because those things which you played with before and have turned away from, they still play with them. In this moment you place yourself in danger of rejection.

My first attempt at witnessing was to my older brother whom I loved. I was not wise enough to understand my own family dynamics and soon discovered my brother held a deep seeded resentment towards me. It surfaced suddenly and painfully when I told him I was a Christian. The vile contempt he displayed to me was the most painful rejection I have ever endured and in some ways I still suffer from it.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

This perhaps is the most difficult and painful lesson of the playground. It is Christ they reject and not you.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

It is hard not to take rejection personally.

1 Corinthians 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

All of us come to Christ of an age where we have already dealt with the concept of learning and reasoning. While we grow in Christ it seems reasonable to use those skills we have to learn about God and this life in Christ.

Learning spiritual concepts do not come naturally. If we set our minds to learn from man only we will end up void of spiritual insight. Having spiritual eyes and ears have to be used to know things the way God intends in this spirit filled life in Christ.

(Until this day the Lord had not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.) If you did not recognize this OT verse, it is because I have modified it to reflect the NT spiritual concept. The heart that is given at new birth now determines the truth and we see and hear with our hearts, not our minds.

This is a spiritual concept that is confounded by a mind that takes pride in its ability to gather knowledge and to reason. 1 Corinthians 8:1 contains the words “knowledge puffs up” for a reason. The way we understand things must change and change is never easy.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

It takes a whole new mindset, a transformation, where those learned skills take second place to the knowing heart. That is no easy thing and since we were toddlers without wisdom just yesterday, let us not run until we have learned to walk properly.