In the Kingdom you can be as young as you want to but you never can be older than you are.

No one wants his father to be a kid. It's nice if your father will play games with you, but there come times when you want Dad to lead the way.

It seems our culture in America has become childish. One of the passages of Scripture talks about a displeased God putting children in charge of a nation. I think that sometimes we long for a godly individual who is ahead of us in character, who stands as a beacon of wisdom, strength, and integrity in times of crisis.

We do not need political leaders who are continually suing for peace, grinning at us and trying to please us.

God is gentle and kindly, perfectly able to play with babies and young children. In fact, God delights in such.

But as we grow in Christ we find that God becomes increasingly austere and stern. There is no foolishness here. He expects us to endure long seasons during which we are denied what we want, times of perplexity, sometimes darkness, sometimes pain, sometimes agony.

As the Lord said, God expects you to come in from the field about ready to drop, and then to gird yourself and wait on Him. He does not want to find self-pity in us. He does not expect grumbling or complaining from His sons.

Faith must be exercised. We must remind ourselves constantly that no matter what happens to us, God is seeking our good.

It is time for us to get serious. God is serious. God is austere. "I know you are an austere man," the lazy servant said. While He is ready to play with His children He expects us eventually to begin to grow. The sign of growth is that we are better able to discern between good and evil and have increased strength and willingness to choose the good and reject the evil.

In order to grow in such discernment and ability we must be willing to experience increasing hardness. God begins to reveal to us the depths of the spiritual and moral horrors of Hell arrayed against us. As we are able to bear it God permits us to experience some of the sufferings of Christ. These sufferings are tough!

We need to get more acquainted with the austerity of God. He can have better fellowship with us if He doesn't have to keep babying us and sending His angels to change our diapers, so to speak.

Lead on, O King eternal. We know you are the one Leader with the wisdom and strength to keep us from harm and to lead us to that which is lovely, joyous, peaceful.

We know you are austere and are glad for it. We need that kind of strength in a silly, fatuous, undisciplined age. Father, we want to be just like You.

Help us to grow up until we can have fellowship both with the goodness and the severity of God.