“Why do they have to grow up?”

Why do kids have to grow up?  Why do they have to start gaining their independence so fast?  While they still need their father, why is it that they don’t seem to need him as much as they used to?  Why is it that they start to enjoy being with their friends more than with their father?  Why do they have to leave their precious innocence behind?  Why do I know that the day may come when they will have moved out of my house and will no longer have me (or want me) in their daily life?  Why can they not stay where they are now and keep what we have now?

It brought tears to my eyes to write these words, thinking about my own girls.  But I wrote these words purposefully to have a two-fold meaning.  There is the obvious meaning that they have to me as a father of two girls I love dearly.  But, now go back and read those seven questions again.  However, this time, capitalize the “f” in Father, and read those questions as if God is asking them about His children (about you and me).  Are we growing up away from Him or into Him (cf. Eph. 4:15)?  Are we growing more independent from God or more dependent?