Thumbsuckers

Five out of my six children sucked their thumbs, or fingers in Zion’s case. Each one had their own style and their own time in giving up the habit. Teachers, doctors and dentists all got their word in edgewise on how to get them to stop and why it was so bad for them. I agreed with every one of these professionals, however, I was the one living with the little people and nothing I did seemed to work. We tried incentives, hot sauce, thumb sucking deterrent syrup, gloves, threats, reminders, etc. I mean we tried it all. Bottom line each one comes out of it on their own. We have yet to have a teenager sucking his or her thumb. No offense to those that do….

As I was once more nagging Emari about not sucking her thumb at church yesterday and I would pull it out of her mouth and she would stick it back in and the process was repeated and repeated and repeated, I thought how much this was like us with the things of God. We want those things that comfort when we get tired or sad or sick. It doesn’t matter that we look ridiculous, might ruin our teeth, or are introducing germs into our system. Baby-like tendencies don’t bring sustenance and don’t display age appropriate behavior. But we don’t care. We want what makes us feel better even if it isn’t doing us any good.

Hebrews 5:12-14 In fact, by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Habits are hard to break. They make us feel good and fill a need. The bad thing is that they can sometimes take a place in our lives that only God can fill properly.