A couple weeks ago, my 3-year old son came running down the stairs screaming, "Daddy, Daddy!" Thankfully, this was a happy proclamation and not one of alarm. I could tell from the excitement in his voice, he couldn't wait to tell me something. When he finally got to me in the living room, he was grinning from ear to ear as he said, "I asked Jesus into my heart?" Of course, I gave him high fives and hugged him real tight like any father would. He stepped back for a second and let me know that I can't hug him very tight anymore because Jesus was now in his heart and if I hugged him too tight, I might kill Jesus again.
Kids say some pretty funny things don't they? I get a kick out of it when they say things that reveal their simplistic way of looking at life. I couldn't help but laugh just a little. But as I sat there chuckling, I began thinking, how awesome his reasoning was. He literally believed that Jesus came to live in his heart. Think about that for a second. He prayed and asked Jesus to come live in his heart, and he really believed that he did. The excitement that he came down the stairs with was not because of the prayer he prayed, but at the fact that Jesus actually now lived in his heart.
As we walk through our Christian journey, wouldn't it be great if we could remain this innocent and full of trust and faith in God. Let's face it, my 3 year old isn't tainted with religious ideologies and all the junk we often acquire through the years that suck the very life of God out of us. He doesn't care if we are going to heaven pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. He doesn't care about whether or not he goes to a seeker friendly church, spirit-filled church, or liturgical church. He doesn't care if we have to pay tithe on our gross or our net earnings, he just loves giving in the offering. All he knows is that his mommy helped him pray and Jesus now lives in his heart. And from what I can tell, he's pumped up about it.
Jesus speaks of coming to Him with a child-like faith, and I have to think this is exactly what he's talking about. Years have a way of shrinking God and his ability to do the miraculous in our minds. We grow up and we start putting God in some type of religious box and limiting him in our minds. So often rather than growing, our faith starts to shrink. How God longs for us to just believe Him and trust Him. Naturally, he wants our knowledge of Him to grow beyond that of my little 3-year old, but in doing so he wants that 3-year old kind of simplistic faith to remain in us throughout the process. He wants that kind of excitement that my little one ran down the stairs with to be evident in our lives.
My son will eventually learn what it means to have Jesus in his heart, but I hope he never allows his simplistic faith in God to waiver. And by the way, I still hug him real tight, taking care not to squeeze his heart too much.
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