This Same Old Place

A friend was talking about the sweet, tender heart of his young son as he was asking questions about salvation. I'm not sure of his age, but I believe him to be in kindergarten or first grade. God deals in a special way with children who grow up in a Christian home. This is especially true of families who are in the ministry and their children, who have been in church nearly every time the doors were open from the time they were babies. These kids often spend countless hours in the church even if the doors are not open. They are comfortable there. It is their second home. My own kids were all in church on their very first Sunday after their birth. Now, that means nothing at all except to me, so don't think I'm bragging or think my kids are special because of that. It was just a gesture that I made toward the Lord and it might be weird to anyone but Him. He gets me. Two of them were born on Friday. The Lord was so good to me to not give me any Saturday night babies. The tradition would have been broken for sure. They were all dedicated to the Lord before the church congregation on their third Sunday after birth. Again, that doesn't make them special. It just means that my pastor loved me and put up with my weirdness, and that I would have made a good orthodox Jew. Lol! What I'm really telling you is that children raised in church tend to trust Christ for salvation at an earlier age. They are raised loving Jesus and usually as soon as they understand sin and the weight of it in their own lives, they want to trust in the finished work of Christ. Some might question if a child as young as four or five can understand and truly get saved. I can assure you that they can. Jesus taught that we all must come as a little child, with that same simple faith. You have to be careful in dealing with them though, and make sure they are burdened with their state of sinfulness and not just afraid of hell. Pray for wisdom! Mark 10:14 talks about how the disciples wanted to send the children away, I suppose thinking they were too young (or too annoying). "But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." Wow. Jesus was much displeased. That sounds important. Matthew 18:2-4 - "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Jesus talked about children a lot. I just thought of another verse that immediately brings me to tears, but I'll save it for another time. So, about the little boy who I started with. He is a church kid, and he already loves Jesus and wants to trust Him for salvation. But he just doesn't understand it all quite yet. And the other morning he told his dad that he's not really sure what's wrong, but every night he tells Jesus that he wants to come to heaven to be with Him, but every morning he wakes up here in this same old place! I love that! I love how little kids think. So literally. Kinda like me, lol. But what faith! We can learn something from that child. Do I love Jesus so much that I am disappointed when I awaken in the morning to find myself not with Him? Do I have the faith of a child that Jesus told us to have? Hmmm. Kids will make you search your heart like no one else. This I know--that sweet child is safe in Jesus until he understands, and then I think he'll run to Him like I did at age eleven. I can't wait to see what God will do with him! By the way, if you have never trusted in Christ and Him alone with this child-like faith, do so today! This will be the very best day of your life; I promise. This post will tell you how.