Never Too Late!

"Look!" Howard said as he came in carrying a gift bag, "Jamie got us T-shirts!"  I saw from the logo it was from the university where he is taking a Master's course. 

"Oh, you are making up for what you did to me in college!" I needled Jamie, who was grinning sheepishly as he carried in our suitcase.

"Red or Blue?" Howard asked, to which I replied, "Red."  It was a good thing I did, because when I unfolded the shirt, I saw  the word, MOM, painted in an artistic flourish with a big heart in the middle instead of the "O," and HBU (Houston Baptist University) in blue letters above it. Howard's had the word, DAD, on it.

Back in the day, Jamie left a lot of close friends in our small Mississippi town when he went off to study at the University of Oklahoma.  Friendly and gregarious, he was something of a mini-celebrity to the kids at church, who wrote him faithfully when he first left.  He was especially close to a fun-loving family of girls and their youngish parents who were often involved in youth activities.  I think there was a mutual crush between our son and their eldest daughter.

Imagine my surprise and chagrin one  night at church when I saw their mother wearing an "OU MOM" T-shirt!  That should've been mine!  My unpredictable son!  I guess on his limited budget, he couldn't afford one for me, too!  Oh well, I chalked it up to adolescent insensitivity.  Like I did when he came home for his first  weekend, attended church with us, then didn't show up for Sunday dinner, instead leaving it to me to find him eating at the home of friends!

Well, he's a parent now, so he must know how that would feel, and to his credit, he is very solicitous of his mom  and dad as a grown-up! But I think I felt a little of what God feels when He says, "I am a jealous God," Exodus 20:5.  Besides the obvious definition as resentment,  when I looked up the word I read, "intolerant of unfaithfulness; apprehensive of losing affection or position."

Of course it was unreasonable to think I was losing affection, and I could not lose my position, but the twinges were there, just the same! On the other hand,  God is intolerant of unfaithfulness! He wants and deserves our devotion, faithfulness and praise.  And that is something for which no T-shirt, slogan, or bumper sticker can substitute!