One of my hopes and dreams as a parent is to see my children fall in love with Jesus. Sabrena and I have never been overbearing with our children telling them they have to accept Jesus into their hearts or they will be in hell, be separated from us, or any other harsh thing parents may say to “get” their children to accept Jesus. Instead, we have just tried to model His love, not always perfect, and pass on that passion we have for Him. Jeremiah has been asking us a lot of questions about Jesus over the last 7 months. He has always said that he was not ready to ask Jesus into his heart. I wanted him to know that our love for him is not dependent upon whether he accepts Jesus or not.
The other night I was over at a good friend’s house. I received a phone call from Sabrena. Jeremiah had come out of his room and said he was ready to ask Jesus into his heart. Sabrena was blown away since this was so unexpected. I asked her what she said to him. She asked him why. He recalled all the important events and even got teary eyed when describing the cross, but joyful when describing the resurrection. There was one catch. Jeremiah told her that he wanted to wait until daddy got home. So I hung up the phone and booked it home. What does a parent say to make sure their child understands? How does the parent know when the timing and heart of a child is right?
When I arrived home I got another brief account from Sabrena and then headed to his room. He still wanted to ask Jesus into his heart, so we walked out to the kitchen table. Sabrena, Gracie Beth, Jeremiah, Mojo (our mastiff), and myself were there ready to listen. I opened the Bible to John 3:16. The key to really knowing if a child is ready is to ask a lot of open-ended questions and to have the child explain it. I read him John 3:16 and ask him what each line meant. With great surprise and joy he was able to explain the verse (talked about sin and after the resurrection, he even went on to tell me there would be a new heaven and earth, lol). I sat there overwhelmed with joy and shocked that he could understand it so clearly as a child. I looked at Sabrena, who had tears streaming down her face, and said, “I think he is ready.”
Turning back to him I asked if He really wanted to ask Jesus into his heart. It was his choice. He said yes with this huge smile. He then crawled up on my lap and prayed, asking Jesus into his heart. When he said amen he gave me a joyful hug and then hugged Sabrena. He was so excited! I understand that his faith will continue to grow from concrete to abstract over time, but the innocence of coming to Jesus as a child was overwhelming. Oh, to have that heart and faith each day I am alive!
Our son did something wonderful the very next day. With great joy he walked up to the first kid he saw at school and told them he asked Jesus into his heart. The boy promptly stared at him and said he was weird…the journey begins.
Brad