A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about the relationship between obedience and trust. When my children obey the commands that they are given, I am all the more inclined to trust them. When they do not obey, that develops a certain level of distrust. Of course, we want to be able to trust our children, and it is important for them to learn to obey and develop that trust because it leads to greater maturity. As my children learn to obey and prove their trustworthiness, then I am necessarily going to entrust them with greater responsibilities, which inevitably leads to greater freedom. That might seem counter-intuitive at first, and to our sinful natures that is certainly the case. What child isn’t inclined to grab after freedom at the expense of responsibility? Surely adults have made the same error or committed the same sin in their Christian lives. Essentially, it is the sin of the garden all over again: grasping at something before the proper time. Nevertheless, in God’s economy obedience engenders trust, which leads to freedom, which is the fruit of maturity. Coming to a greater understanding of this reality and enabling our children to understand it is ever a challenge, but necessary for their growth in grace, and ours as well. The principle holds true between our Heavenly Father and us. As we obey, as we show ourselves to be faithful in what He has for us it will inevitably lead to Him entrusting us with more. While that might seem daunting from one perspective, maturity is the goal, even growing up to the “mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). So as we reflect on helping our children grasp these principles of obedience, trust, and freedom, let us also reflect on them as they relate to our relationship with our Father in Heaven; giving ourselves to glad obedience, even as patterned in Christ, the Mature Man.