Simple Salvation

Prayer tends to be the strongest arrow in the quiver of a Christian parent.  Because as Christians we know the power of prayer for our children.  One prayer that I have prayed over and over again as a parent is for my children to come to the realization of their need for a personal savior at an early age.  The gospel really is so simple that even a child can understand it!  It is as we grow older that we tend to add more rules, restrictions, and regulations to the message (but that is a whole other post-maybe!).  I am not saying that as children we can fully understand the sacrifice that Jesus made by dying on the cross or all of the benefits and implications of living a Christ-centered life; but as children, we can recognize the sin in our lives and see that God provided his son as a bridge to Himself so that we can have eternal life in heaven with Him!

"Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  -Matthew 19:14 (NIV)

I have mentioned before that I was 4-years old when I made the decision to make Jesus Lord of my life.  It was not until much later (middle school years) that I truly began to have a faith all my own.  I cannot even claim that I "understood" in middle school what Christ had done for me on that day at Calvary, because I am still discovering it now at 30-somethin' years old!  But... I digress.....

This month, my husband and I have had the privilege and overwhelming joy of being able to pray with two of our children as they came to the realization that they needed and wanted the gift of Jesus.  Quin, our 8-year old and I were driving home, just the two of us from my parents house after a very long day.  It is about a 35-minute drive, so plenty of time for just discussing anything that comes to mind.  Quin and I began discussing super heroes and that lead to the discussion about biblical super heroes like Abraham and Noah.  I then asked Quin what he knew about Jesus. 

Have you ever been in a situation where the words just poured forth and the flood gates opened, but you knew in your heart they were not your words, but instead they were a gift from heaven because they were ministering directly to your heart as much as they were intended to minister to the hearer.  This was how my conversation with Quin went!  I had lost sight of the awesome power of Christ's work of forgiveness on the cross.  I had forgotten that by His work on Calvary God no longer sees me as the wounded, sick, sin-filled creature that I was, but instead He sees Christ's glory in me!  Not only was every sin I have ever committed taken care of, but every sin I WILL ever commit.  It was good to admit to Quin that yes, mommy still sins today and I have to ask forgiveness and confess those sins, but I do not have to worry about being separated from God's love.  Quin admitted that he had prayed to receive Jesus' gift a couple of times by himself at night, but I offered to pray with him and thank God for the work already being done in him.... so we did!  We talked about the party the angels in heaven were throwing right at that moment in Quin's honor, and then when we got home, we shared the very exciting news with Dad!  What a blessing!

It was exactly a week later, March 10th, that Titus', our 7-year old, approached Pete and I in our bedroom and said that he wanted to ask Jesus into his heart too!  So together, Pete and I had the same discussion with Titus that I had had with Quin the week before, and Titus' name was entered into the Lamb's Book of Life that evening and his own party was held in heaven. 

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." -Luke 15:7 (NIV)

Now the process of growing and maturing in Christ begins for both boys.  Do the prayers stop or even slow?  Good grief... no!  Now it is even more important to be on my knees for each of my children and my husband warding off the enemies attacks with the sharpest and best weapons I have, prayer and God's word. 

My two "super heroes"