What have you done?

When I say these words my mind goes back to when my kids were little and learning right from wrong as a matter of experience.

One time my youngest son, Phil did something that will go down in the annals of family history as a huge mistake. He was three years old and for some odd reason he wanted to see what would happen if he flushed my husband’s official timepiece for his railroad job…you guessed it . . . down the toilet! We looked all over for that watch the evening of its mysterious disappearance. Finally, my son said he had done the dastardly deed.

What can you say to a three year old? He had no idea it was a very expensive piece of jewelry that his Dad used to keep the trains on time. He just knew it was big and he wondered if it would go down that drainpipe. It was just a new experience in his life. That’s all!

Another time I used that phrase was when my oldest son, Matthew was four. I took him and his younger brother Jonathan shopping. I had Jonathan in a backpack for kids. It was time for the annual sidewalk sales in the mall so I thought this was a good time to get them some new clothes. Our mall had a few fountains in it at that time and my kids loved to watch and listen to the water.

One of the sidewalk sales was right next to a fountain so I told my son to stay right by me and hold on to my pant leg while I looked through the rack of clothes. Well, as you can guess, that didn’t happen. I was only two or three hangers into the clothes rack when I realized I didn’t feel his tug on my pant leg. I looked up and there were his shoes and socks neatly placed on the side of the fountain. My son had climbed in and was knee deep in water. He had a huge smile on his face and his cargo pants pockets were full of the pennies he had collected during his 45 seconds of freedom. “What have you done?” was used again but this time with a little more embarrassment on my part!

Sometimes I wonder if I need to turn that phrase on myself. I can hear God saying it to me. What have you done…with that opportunity I gave you to witness? What have you done…with that voice I gave you to speak for me? What have you done…to that person with your hurtful words and smugness? Boy, that’s painful. It takes some soul searching and Scripture reading to bring my focus back to where I should be. In Psalm 15 it says, “…a word spoken in due season, how good it is!” I sure want to be known for speaking good words, not bad ones or no words at all.

So the next time you get ready to shout, “What have you done?” to someone else, remember that someday you will have to face an Almighty God who will ask you that same question! And the answer will be…?