I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

1st John, chapter 2.

Welcome back to the Ransom-Thar Podcast with John Eldridge this week, sharing with you from Chapter 2 in our book group in Story Time. I'm reading to you, which I just love to do.

And the title of this chapter is Third Graters at Normandy.

God is growing us all up.

Children, fathers, young men. How beautiful. How kind of John to remind us we are all at different places

in our spiritual journeys. We are at different stages of maturing. Children in the faith know the basics. They know they are forgiven. The

young men and women know other things. They understand the battle. Fathers and

mothers are further along still. They know God intimately.

We are all underway and we are not all in the same place. This is very gracious and realistic and quite

helpful when it comes to understanding your own life or the lives of those around

you. If you think about it you can probably name the children,

young men and fathers and mothers in your life.

God understands where you are. As George McDonald assured us, what father is not pleased with the first

tottering attempt of his little one to walk? And God is absolutely committed to your growing up.

What father would be satisfied with anything but the manly step of the full-grown son or daughter.

Elisha was probably once like Lamotte.

Lomat is on her way to becoming an Elish To this God has committed himself most fervently.

As it was for many parents before, teaching our sons to drive was a hair-raising endeavor, merging into traffic that felt like

Hans Solo pushing the Millennium Falcon into light speed, sudden breaking that seemed equally certain to send me through the windshield.

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