When Babies Dream

Guy K. Henry

www.guyhenry.com

 

The crowd cheered as cute little baby Corey crawled towards home plate. He pulled himself around and sat on the plate, his chubby legs sticking out straight before him. Corey reached out and wrapped his baby fingers around the wooden bat. The crowd grew louder.

From his sitting position he, with great difficulty, lifted the bat onto his shoulder. He took his pacifier out and threw it into the sand as he turned his head to stare down the pitcher with his twinkling baby eyes. Gaze fixed, he wiped the drool off of his chin.

The pitcher glared back at the little tyke sitting on home plate. He wound up his arm, and hurled the baseball just to the side of the diaper-clad boy.

Corey drew as deep a breath as his little lungs could hold, and just at the right moment he let it loose. The bat slid off of his shoulder and connected with the speeding ball.

The noses of the crowd were all pointed straight up as the ball made a curve high into the sky. The outfielders, who hadn’t expected to be needed, scrambled around as they tried to predict where the baseball would come back to earth.

Corey dropped the bat, and started to crawl for all his worth towards first base. Meanwhile the ball bounced wildly in the grass, confounding the outfielders.

Stadium seats snapped shut as thousands of fans jumped to their feet. Baby Corey pushed up with both his little hands with such strength that he found himself standing up.

Corey could now feel the breeze in his hair from the collective breath of the screaming audience. His feet took turns moving in front of the other foot as he traced the chalk baseline towards first base.

The unprepared outfielders tripped and crashed into each other as the ball bounced out the last of its energy from Corey’s swing. Just then Corey’s little toes touched the bag that was first base. The base coach screamed as loud as he could, “Run little boy, RUN!”

Corey’s first experience with walking was going very well. With each step he increased his confidence and speed. The second baseman jumped out of the baby’s way just in time to keep from being plowed down. The huge stadium TV screen zoomed in on Corey’s face as he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead.

Corey’s heal brushed against second base as he pivoted towards third. Fans from both teams were now cheering for the little boy.

The burley shortstop held his mitt high into the air as the spinning baseball was sent to him from somewhere in right field. He was about to close the glove around the ball when he felt a locomotive strike him in the shin, sending him violently tumbling to the ground. It was Corey, making his journey to third base. The ball slowly rolled out of the shortstop’s glove as the big man closed his eyes for a little sleep.

Corey didn’t see the second baseman dash out to retrieve the elusive baseball. If he had seen him though, he wouldn’t have cared. His only thoughts were moving those little legs and keeping the tape on his diaper from coming loose.

The third baseman’s eyes went from the ball that was thrown to him, to the almost two feet of huffing and puffing baby that was steaming towards him. So distracting was Corey’s speed that the baseball and glove never touched. Instead the ball smashed into the sand of foul territory.

It appeared to some in the audience that Corey ran up the front, and down the back of the dumbfounded third baseman. “Corey, Corey, Corey!” hollered the fans as he sped down the line that ended at home plate.

The second baseman hopped over the napping shortstop and ran past the stunned third baseman to get the ball. The catcher moved up and positioned himself to catch the ball. The ball sailed through the air, but it was going to be too late. Corey kicked up a cloud of dust as he slid between the catcher’s legs and onto home plate.

The next day, newspapers appeared nationwide with a picture of Corey’s toothless grin as he brushed the sand off of his pacifier.

Corey opened his eyes for a brief moment. He was back in his crib. He thought about raising a fuss and summoning his mommy, but instead he decided to go back to sleep and have another dream…

 

 

Nobody expects a baby to just get up and start walking all of a sudden. (Unless it is in a dream!) The process is much longer and difficult than that. Perhaps one day the little baby will pull himself up on a couch. The parents applaud him. Then he will fall back to the ground on his well padded pampers. Then another day he will let go of the couch and stand wavering in the wind. The parents go wild. Then it’s back to the floor again, crash! Another day he’ll take a step. The parents pass out. The vibration from that step shimmies up his leg, it folds, and once again he goes “Boom!” A week later it’s two steps, three steps until the sound of baby meeting floor is heard. The parents are so excited they can barely walk. Then one day, the little baby walks across the room into the waiting arms of his biggest fan, and there is no “baby go Boom!”

Colossians 2:6 says, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” This, and a lot of other New Testament passages refer to the life that we live after receiving forgiveness and salvation from Christ as a ‘walk’.

I believe that God as author of the Bible chose this word very carefully. If we study some of the similarities with our experience with walking, and living life as a Christian we may learn something.

Firstly, as Christians, we will “fall and go boom.” Did you ever hear someone say (or say to yourself), “That church is full of hypocrites!” or, “I don’t go to church because they don’t practice what they preach.” If you’ve ever said or heard that, you’d be entirely correct. A hypocrite is someone who tells people to do one thing, but does the opposite. As I’ve lived my life as a Christian, I’ve done exactly that. All Christians have. We disobey God and violate His laws, because we are in the process of learning how to walk. If you watch my life, or any Christian’s life closely, you will see us fall. After that we will get back up. As they grow as Christians, we will hopefully fall less, but we will fall. The only time that we will stop falling is when we reach heaven! Instead of thinking of church as a ‘House of Hypocrites’ it would be better to think of it as a bunch of people learning how to walk with God? Instead of withdrawing from other believers, wouldn’t it be wise to come and take some ‘walking lessons’?! It says in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Right here we are told to get together and LEARN TO WALK!

Secondly, as we watch those around us fall and make mistakes we must make sure that we have the right attitude. If someone watched a baby take two steps and collapse to the floor and they exclaimed, “What kind of baby are you? You fall too much! You’re a bad baby!” we’d probably be tempted to beat them up, or at least apply duct tape to their mouths. Sadly, Christians have been known to utter some very judgmental things to their fellow walkers. The Bible says in Hebrews 3:13 “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”  We are to be encouragers to each other. Sometimes that encouragement means that we show them the way back to the Christian Life, and sometimes it means we lighten their load.  When someone is down, we are to lift him or her up. Consider Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Lastly, notice how the very word ‘WALK’ implies growth and movement. God firstly desires that all would come to accept Christ’s way of salvation. I know this because of Matthew 18:14 “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” After that it is God’s desire that we grow as Christians and His servants. The last verse in the book of 2 Peter says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Unfortunately, many people come to know Christ and His salvation, and then they shift into PARK, and pull the emergency brake. They refuse to allow God’s training into their lives. They resist the change that was born in their spirit the day they asked Jesus for forgiveness. Not only is this against God’s desire for their lives, but they also miss out on the tremendous blessing one receives when they serve God.

Perhaps they are afraid of falling. That’s one of the purposes of diapers. They cushion the fall. Have you have withdrawn from God and never learned and practiced walking with Him? Well, it’s time to get up. Go ahead; hold onto the pew for a while. Allow God to teach you how to walk. Great blessing await you!

Colossians 1:10 “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”