Eeeny Meeny Miney Moe...

catch a tiger by the toe.  If he hollers, let him go.  Eeeny meeny miney moe.

My five year old just learned this refined art of decision making skill.  And everything, absolutely everything is subjected, to this time honored tradition. 

Which shirt to wear, which sticker to pick, which dessert to choose, which apple to eat.  Nothing escapes the sing-song of my mother told me to pick the very best one.

Watching him go through yet another of key childhood dilemmas, chocolate or vanilla pudding, I remembered the irony of the rhyme.

Between two choices, where you start is what you get--every single time.  Eeeny equals moe in the great equation of the tiger's toe. 

What happens if you've developed a theology of God following the eeeny meeny miney moe principle?  Well, given the choice between two things, whatever I start with is where I will end.  For example, if I start with my works, then I'm left with my works, or if I start with Christ's work, then I end with Christ's work. 

I used to have an eeeny meeny miney moe theology.  It was exceedingly comfortable because God was completely understandable by me.  I was obedient and moral (by my measure alone) so His part was to bless me with the answers to prayer that I wanted.  I was a deal maker with God.  Problem was, He wasn't interested in my dealings.  The tiger's toe came off at the nail when the first really big thing happened that didn't follow the previously established pattern.  It was concrete to me, why wasn't He following it?

Because He's God, and He doesn't deal in the sing-song rhymes of childhood.  Even with my son, while I'll entertain his fascination with how that whole equation of moe works in regards to pudding, I'm not going to let him use it when it comes to whether he obeys me or not.  I would be foolish to allow that, because as his parent I know what is for his good.  To do otherwise would only communicate to my son that he was in charge, and not me.

And then I'd have to live in a world of singing "my mother told me" instead of singing, "because the Bible told me so."