The other day I was having one of my moments. You know, feeling pressure to do something you know you ought not to do. It’s the same routine, there is truly nothing new under the sun. And you been down this road before, a bunch of times…too many times if you really want to be truthful. You already know how this is going to end: you feel pressure…you try to resists…you fight a little bit…you reason with yourself…you think “God will forgive me”…you give in…YOU FEEL TERRIBLE!…you think “why the heck did I do that!” It’s the same song and dance for year end and year out.
But this time was different. I heard something on the inside of me say “Hmmm…aren’t you a little too old for that by now? Shouldn’t you be passed all that at this point? Haven’t you been down that road too many times before with the same result? I mean, come on man. Is that what you really want?” Why do we continue to follow the same path to self-destruction when we know what the end result is going to be? Man, its time to grow up!
Then I thought of the scripture found in 1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned (or understand) like a child. When I become a MAN, I put childish ways behind me.” The difference between a boy and a man, between someone who is immature and someone who is mature, is not how much you have grown physically, not what you have accomplished, not how much stuff you have, not even having a woman at your side. There are only three main distinctions between boys and men: how you talk, how you think, and how you reason.
A boy talks about his problems, while a man talks about the solutions. A boy focuses on his circumstances; a man focuses on his vision. A boy lives in the past, a man prepares for the future. A boy lives for today, a man sacrifices today in order to create a greater tomorrow. A boy is like a thermometer (reflects the conditions of his environment). A man is like a thermostat (he sets the atmosphere and changes the conditions of his environment). A boy is a product of his environment; a man’s environment is a product of him. A boy is moved by his feelings; a man is moved by his principles. A boy says “I have to”; I man says “I chose to”. A boy says “No I can’t”; I man says “YES I CAN!” (okay Obama…)
Anyway, the distinction between a boy and a man is like night and day, like a caterpillar and a butterfly. Like a caterpillar, the transition between boyhood and manhood is a metamorphosis; it is a process whereby one nature dies and a new nature is birthed.
Growing up, my sister and I used to go out into the streets and capture caterpillars and put them in a closed jar to watch this process unfold. After a few days, the caterpillar would fold into a white ball or cocoon and go through the process of transforming into a butterfly (or in our cause, a not so appealing moth!) Pretty soon the caterpillar was no more and we would have moths flying around our house. My point is that in order to get the butterfly or moth, the caterpillar has to be put away. And once the transformation takes place, the butterfly can never go back to being a caterpillar.
Manhood is much the same way. In order to become a man, the boy has to be put away. That is why the scripture says “When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Note that childish speaking, thinking, and reasoning just don’t go away by themselves. They must be put away, intentionally and on purpose.
TO BE CONTINUED…..
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