Shannon Popkin:
Me: "Why did Jesus die?"
Cade: "To save us from our sins."
Me: "Have you sinned?"
Cade: "Yea, like when I scratched Cole last night."
Me: "What is God’s punishment for sin?"
Cade: "He says we have to die. Like, in hell."
Me: "How can you be saved from your sin?"
Cade: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Hey, Mommy. You know what would be really great? Like, you know what would be really, really cool??
Me: "What?"
Cade: "If we could have, like a million billion boxes of macaroni and cheese in our cupboard! Wouldn’t that be awesome??"
I have friends who would argue that Cade is saved. And this conversation does give evidence of faith and belief . . .
Read the whole thing here.
I have this conversation almost at least once a week with my almost 4 year old – and I’m pretty sure Macaroni and cheese has also been the non sequitor at least once!
Thanks Chris.
Trev and I have been talking about this quite a bit since Jackson went through the motions of asking Jesus to forgive him of his sins, and asking God to be in charge of his life, pledging to make choices that will make God happy and to do what He wants Jackson to do. On the one hand, I wanted to celebrate this decision with more excitement than ever with him, but on the other, I am cautious about his understanding at his mere five-years-old. We have been treating this as an important first step, and encouraging him in the ways he should grow, but are still kinda waiting for the day he REALLY gets it and TRULY accepts Christ as his Lord and Savior. It’s still an exciting day for a parent though, that’s for sure! Seeing the first seeds starting to bloom; there’s nothing like it!
Stephanie, I think your approach is the right one. Celebrate. Be positive. Affirm such a decision.
But, don’t presume that this is definitive. Keep shepherding your child’s heart. Feed them the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Pray, pray, pray.