When Cole was five, he talked for weeks about his impending immunization shots, and then the dreaded day arrived. Since Cole needed shots in both of his arms, the nurse suggested that we do both pokes simultaneously. Sounded good to me.
I held Cole on my lap, hugging his arms tightly down against his sides. Two nurses, one positioned at each of Cole’s arms, pointed their needles and synchronized their attack. One, two, THREE! What happened next caught us all off guard.
Cole erupted with such force that both needles went flying and all three women toppled backward, away from the screaming 5 year old. Obviously, I was lacking the grip necessary to hold my ‘Incredible Hulk’ down for a two pronged poke.
Now that my kids are getting older, I find myself poking at them constantly.
“Be responsible with property.”
“Include your brother.”
“Obey without sulking.”
“Follow through on promises.”
These are all injections that I’d like to give, but can’t.
Rather than working on my grip, though, I’m working on my words—both to my kids directly and to my God on their behalf. I can slip words into my kids without any force at all, and the most powerful force comes when they yield to the Spirit of God. The only pokes that can immunize my children from sin are the pokes that come from inside them.