Some days I feel as though I am constantly correcting behavior.  Constantly stepping in to frustrating situations.  Constantly disciplining in hopes for internal changes to take place in my kids minds and hearts.  And yet....it doesn't always happen like that.....
I have been dealing with my oldest son going through some growing up.  He's not even a teenager, people!!  How did he get to be almost as tall as me?  How did he become a young man when just yesterday it seemed like he was a sweet little toddler? Oh my heart aches.  Not because I don't like where he is now but because I know our time together, like it is now, is short.  It gets shorter and shorter with each moment.
We have been talking about internal vs. external changes alot too.  Noooooo, not the physical changes the body goes through...ha ha ha ha, that's not for a blog posting you know! ;)  I mean the "I will act this way so I stay out of trouble" vs "I want to be this way to please Christ" stuff.
I have found myself saying...often...you have chosen a consequence for your actions but I know this is just external.  The first time I said it I think the boys both looked at me like I was crazy.  But the more we talked or the more I had to follow through with a consequence they got it.  Kind of....
So my oldest told me today he would obey but only because he doesn't want the consequence.  Maybe I should have been excited.  Maybe I should have said "Wooo Hooo!"  Maybe...but I wasn't.  In fact, I was downright sad. 
I looked at my sweet firstborn and all I could say/think was this: Your desire to obey should come from a deep longing to obey Christ.  The desire to obey me shouldn't be because you don't want to get in trouble but because you desperately want to follow Christ!
Maybe he got it, maybe he didn't.  I do know that this same message isn't just for him. It's for me...you...any Christ follower around.  I want to obey out of a heart full of love and gratitude.  I want to seek Him first.  I want to be consumed by His love so much so that it exudes from my every pore!  I want to follow Him!!
You are following someone every moment of your life...as am I....who will you follow and why? :)