LEARNING DAILY

 

Genesis 6:5, Then the Lord saw the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

 

I have centered the blog around Matthew 7:13-14 for a long time. It deals with a broad way and a narrow way. I have been doing some personal writing about this theme to try to understand it as fully as I can to encourage myself and all who read the blog. I have been trying to understand why there are so many on the broad way which Jesus said was easy and so few on the narrow way which He said would be difficult. Perhaps, the answer lies in that statement. I hope you are encouraged by some thoughts I have gained.

 

In the late 1970s I read a book by Earl Jabay titled The Kingdom of Self. I do not have the book anymore but I would like to give you a snapshot of what it was about. Remembering it has given me tremendous insight to what you and I face as we walk on the narrow way. Jabay writes that from the moment we are born a kingdom is formed with each of us being the king of the kingdom. This kingdom of self continues to develop and control our actions until each of us makes a decision that the “self” can no longer control how we think, talk, and act. Let me explain how self comes to dominate each of us.

 

According to Jabay the kingdom of self begins when we are born. A baby soon learns that crying alerts their parents to a need he/she has. Crying tells the parents that a diaper needs to be changed, the baby needs to be fed, there is a possible medical need, or the baby just wants attention. A cry is heard, and someone jumps to attend whatever the need is. Of course, this is God’s way for the needs of the baby to be met; the baby has no other way of making their need or wants known. However, it does not take too long before the baby begins to know this process and the kingdom of self is being established.

 

As the baby learns to walk and begins to talk, the kingdom of self develops as the child is allowed to do whatever he/she wants to do. The child has learned that crying and demanding their way (or their “wants”) has led to their “self” being satisfied. As a child learns to communicate by speaking, the need or want can be made known. “I’m hungry.” “I do not feel well today.” “I want this!” “I’m not going to do that.” (Not always spoken!) “No!” There is a shift from need to want. The thought now becomes I’m going to cry and raise a fuss until I get what I want wherever it happens to be. The kingdom of self becomes more entrenched in the child when every demand is given into. It is a behavior and thought process that will continue as the child grows into adolescence, teens and their adult life if not corrected.

 

Let me give a quick example. We have all experienced this or seen it as we shop. Retailers are very good at placing child friendly items at the eye level of children. These are the items children see advertised on television. Those sugar filled cereals are placed on the shelves so children can easily see and grab them. The struggle, the test of wills begins when the adult tries to put them back on the shelf. Oh, wait until you get to the checkouts and find all the things and all the goodies that children (adults too) want.

Stay with me. We will look further at this and how it affects us as we get older. It is important to understand that there are really two kingdoms to choose from – the kingdom of self or the kingdom of God. Children might not understand this choice, so it is important for parents to guide them toward the kingdom of God. The difficulty arises when there are no godly parents to guide the children.