Expecting changes

It's something I've noticed with all our seven children, particularly in their early months: changes in their appearance and awareness, subtle but noticeable on an almost daily basis. With delight we have observed Asher learning to focus visually on his surroundings, to track nearby movements. He can put on quite a smiling display in his sleep, and we think we can tell that he's on the edge of grinning even when awake, as he begins to figure out the basics of interacting with someone else face to face.

Of course, that's what infants are supposed to do. But what about us who are older, who have already "grown up"? I think it's fair to say that the longer we live, the less we want to change. And as we become comfortably fond of the status quo, we tend to lose any real expectation of change.

God calls us to continual change. How else can we interpret Peter's final words in his second letter: "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"? And Paul evidently believed that being changed to be more like Jesus is one of God's truly glorious works on our behalf (2 Cor 3:17-18).

Maybe this is part of what Jesus meant when he said we must change and become like little children even to enter God's kingdom. I need to be a lot more like my infant son Asher, specifically in regard to being willing to alter my thinking and my behavior under the instruction of Jesus. I want to expect good changes in myself and to be delighted when they come, just as I take daily pleasure in noticing this process in my son.