While driving down the road, at the beginning of a very hectic, but very joyful week I had one of life's most wonderful opportunities.
Jude and Mia were in the back of the car, and Maddy and I were up front. We were talking about God. We were talking about sin. We were talking about our need for Jesus - and Heaven, where He lives (and Grandma Cindy too).
Jude told me again (because he really does tell me this all the time...) that God is the only one who always does what is right and doesn't lie. I love to hear him say that. It is True. It is a good truth to know. Even when you are 4. Then He started telling me how Jesus came to earth, died on the cross and rose again on the third day.
I love this kid. I love our church. I love the he seems to have loved God from the moment he was born. He is always telling me wonderful things about Jesus and God. He also loves for me to sing "I Love You Lord" at bed time. When he gets afraid in the night, he sings it all by himself. And, according to him, it works. :) Of course it does. Any time we put our eyes on something other than God, it can get scary. Just ask the 4 year old in the dark. But, when we remind ourselves that God is always with us - we are never out of His sight, things seem to be a little more manageable.
Anyway, it was a great chat. I told Maddy that I had started this conversation with him last week, but we were interrupted, and alas, we had to resume at another moment. Here we were, stuck in the car for several hours, so I figured we should make the most of it. Surely we did.
I asked Jude if he understood why we needed Jesus. He did.
I asked Jude if he understood why God sent Jesus. He did.
Then, he told me how Jesus died on the cross - but He rose again on the third day. I loved that part. To watch him tell me the gospel. Jesus died mom, but it didn't end there.... now that was my favorite! At that point, I asked him if he would like to go to heaven one day. He said he wanted to go later that day (after we established that there are things cooler than toys that we have here). I told him I wasn't aiming at letting him go quite that soon! But, it was so sweet.
We did say a prayer out loud, but I am fairly certain in my heart that the transaction had already taken place in his little heart well before the words came out. I told him that because he believed in Jesus, and because he understood that he HAD to have Jesus to go to Heaven with God, that God had given him a new heart.
He smiled really big.
Then we prayed and thanked God for giving him a new heart, and for sending Jesus because He loves us so much.
I smiled so big.
I told him that his heart was new because God says that when we believe in Jesus, we get a new heart, and in fact, the Holy Spirit comes to help us make good choices. We talked about how the temptations would still be there to do naughty things, but that now we had someone with us all the time to help us make right choices. There were many other things we talked about, but it was my favorite to hear him tell people the rest of the day that God had given him a new heart. Yes, little man, God gave you a new heart indeed. The process has begun. There are sure to be many times that I have to remind myself that God sees and knows his little heart much better than I do at all times, but how sweet that already his heart is for God.
It is always nice to me to hear myself telling people the Gospel, because I needed the reminder too. Temptations will always be there, but we have a Helper. God sees my new heart - always. He doesn't even remember my old heart. He loves that boy and his new heart... and he is just as crazy about this girl and her new heart.
What a great day to remember the grace and mercy of God. What a great day for a new heart!
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