Rolled Up Pant Legs

As any parent can tell you, when your child has a high fever it is pretty scary especially when it will not come down. The last thing in the world any parent wants to do is put them in a cool bath to take their temperature down. I remember many times, running the bath, starting out with a lukewarm water and gradually adding cooler water and here a child who is already shivering is made even more uncomfortable sitting in cold water. One of the things that usually happened when my kids had to take this “polar plunge“, was their Dad would roll up his pant legs and sit on the edge of the tub with his legs in the cool water. He would comfort them and try to keep them in the much needed cool bath until the fever started to come down. It seemed that when they saw their dad in the water with them it wasn’t so bad. He would gently pour water on their hot little bodies from his cupped hand. Finally their temp would come down and this little body would cool and be ready to be put back into bed.

As God from heaven looked upon his children he could see that they were suffering from sin. So he sent Jesus to roll up his pant legs and step into our cold world. He suffered what we suffered and enjoyed what we enjoy. He grimaced with a belly ache but smiled over the newness of a puppy. He understood temptation, he knew what it was like to get angry. He celebrated weddings and grieved at funerals. He had a mom and earthly father, he had siblings and all that come with family life. I’m sure he had aunts that kissed him when he didn’t want them to and uncles who wrestled with him. He got splinters in his fingers from the carpenter shop and on occasion, I’m sure, he hit his finger with the hammer. He came to our world knowing that he would have to die for our sins but he did it because of his love for us. He became a mere man so that we could see the love of the father.

My kids have grown up now so Larry doesn’t need to sit knee deep in cold water but many times I know he and I wish that life could be as simple as it was then. As parents, we still want to climb into our kid’s world and cheer them on. As much as we would love to bring them comfort nothing could compare to seeing the Heavenly Father roll up his pant legs and sit down to comfort His children as only He can.