Today - this day Isaac confessed Christ. My son professed to me his trust in Jesus. Today I am as sure as an earthly father can be that my son has come to know his Heavenly Father and placed his trust not on his own merit but on the merit of Christ who died to set us free. My son. His son.
I've played this day out in my head a thousand times. I've wondered what would bring it about. I've wondered if I would even be there to witness. And, at some level I've had a degree of discomfort about it, too. Discomfort at wondering how I would know it is real. My greatest fear, honestly, was that i would go to pick him up from sunday school or a kids camp and they would tell me he had accepted Christ.
My fear came not from selfishly wanting to be there, but more so from the frequent stories I've heard and even witnessed where well-intentioned leaders impersonally offer a "sinner's prayer" and declare whomever raises their hand a new believer. My fear was born of the numerous testimonies that I've heard from believers who have lived a life of hollow religiosity after being swept up in an emotional night at summer camp.
My fears, today though, were relieved. Isaac and I went to the garage this AM to eat peanuts and watch the sun come up (our standing Saturday AM tradition). We piddled and eventually moved to the workbench to work on his model rocket. At a quiet point, he asked me, "Papa, can we talk about God?"
I turned around casually, but he had my full attention. "Sure, so what have you learned about God lately?" Isaac answered that God can bring a dead person back to life. He also noted that Jesus had come back to life. I asked if he knew why Jesus had died, and he knew it was to save us from our sin. At this point I realized that Isaac understood the basic tenets of the gospel, but did he believe? I began to explain that Christ offered to cover our sins asking only that we trust in his sacrifice over our own good deeds, but he stopped me. In his own words, he said, "I trust in Jesus, I just haven't told anyone yet." It was at that moment that my hesitancy to urge him into anything that he wasn't sincere about disappeared. We went immediately to tell Mama about it. We all rejoiced together, and then we prayed to thank God for this wonderful gift.
Isaac will deepen his understanding of God and his faith will grow, but by the grace of God he will forever be a child of The King.
Mat 19:14 NIV - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
2 comments:
This is good.
And the angels in Heaven rejoiced, as we all did.
Post a Comment