A Blank Slate (1 Jn. 3)

When one becomes a Christian, he or she is no tabula rasa. I write this as I wait in anticipation for my first grandchild to be born. Brantley Mark will be here soon, less than a month, and his brand new life will begin. People often believe that children come as blank slates waiting for the imprinting on their lives that will determine who or what they will become. In some ways, they do. Children learn from their parents, the world around them, society . . . each one has a normal that varies from all other normals. However, each child comes already broken in the sense that he/she is born a sinner, inheriting Adam’s sin upon birth. There has never been a perfect child born who is free from rebellion before Jesus was born, otherwise, mankind wouldn’t have needed Jesus to save us from our sin.

Think about it. Even the first children born to man had issues. Cain killed Abel because “his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous” (1 Jn. 3:12). One of the first babies born to mankind was a murderer. Throughout the Bible, man’s imperfections crop up over and over again even in those chosen by God for His work, the ones bringing about His righteousness. God leaves us no picture of human perfection in the Bible prior to Jesus. Abraham, to whom the promise came, was no picture of perfection. His son, Isaac? Nope!  Jacob. No. Moses sinned. He repented. Peter didn’t want to deny Jesus, yet he did so three times and repented of it sorrowfully. Only Jesus Christ is perfect, righteous, holy, moral, able to walk through human life without sin. Only Christ can redeem because of this. Surely, if babies were blank slates, one would have peeked through somewhere other than Jesus, revealing perfection attainable and reachable . . . 

Thinking about this makes me think of how I raised my own children—in my own image, imperfect. They are broken like I am broken. They struggle like I struggle or like their father struggles. I wish I could say I was the perfect mom, but I can’t. I wish I could say I will be the perfect grandmother, but I can’t. I am a broken human redeemed by Christ learning to follow him better as I mature in my walk.  As I sit reading through 1 Jn. 3, I see this so clearly. John speaks of being “children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be” (v. 2). I am becoming more like Him, and when He appears, I shall be “like Him” because I will finally see Him as He is. In anticipation of this, I have fixed my hope on Him, and I purify myself because He is pure instead of practicing sin (v. 3).  I am nowhere near perfection, but I have been filling up my own slate with the Word of God. The past is behind me. I can’t change the way I raised my children no matter how much I wish I could have a "do-over." What I am now is more, and what I will yet be is what He will have me be. I want to walk in that direction, not regretting the past, which cannot be changed, so I pray.

My prayer is that my children will raise up godly children who will serve Him with all of their hearts and minds and souls and strength. My prayer is that they will understand that a baby is not a blank slate to turn into a mini me, but that a baby is a  precious gift entrusted to us for His glory, just as His own child, Jesus, was entrusted to Mary not for her glory, but for His.  Merry Christmas!