Learning From Baby Teeth

G lost his first tooth last week. Quite a momentous occasion. Quite a wake-up call to how fast kids grow up as well. It wasn’t too long ago that we were celebrating his first tooth to pop up. Now, he’s lost his first tooth. As we were talking about it a few days ago, I told G he needed to make sure he brushes his tooth that grows in its place really well, because it will not be replaced. No more do-overs. (Grant is a good brusher, so I don’t think this will be a problem, but I thought it would be the fatherly thing to say anyway.)

That’s the great thing about baby teeth, we learn how to take care of them, before we get our permanent ones. If we haven’t learned how, then we are in trouble when the permanent ones grow in. Life doesn’t always afford the same do-overs we get with the baby teeth. We’re not starfish, regenerating a lost arm. Every decision we make affects us the rest of our lives. This can be haunting, but not overwhelming, because we can learn from our past, if we pay attention. We learn how to ride a bike by falling down a few times, we learn how to hit a baseball by striking out a few times, we learn how to be a friend by being rejected a few times, etc. Life’s struggles allow us to grow by shaping our character.

Of course, the ultimate do-over is offered to us through Christ. He gave us life, saw the mess we had made with our lives, and came to give us new life. Even though I knowingly and willingly fail to brush my life, Jesus’ love for me is such that he offers me more than just a permanent tooth or a new starfish arm; he offers me a restoration of my life, re-doing permanently His image in me that He intended from the beginning. To think about the shortcomings in my life, to realize that all those shortcomings fall on Christ on the cross – all of them! – that Christ loves me so much more than I can ever imagine, it’s amazing: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death…And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” (Romans 8:1, 11) And who did He come to save? “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Everyone.

So as Grant celebrates his first lost tooth and the growth of a permanent one, I pray he will discover the Maker of those teeth, the Permanence of His Love, and the Grace which He brushes us with daily.