For me, I wasted enough time trying to determine my 5 1/2 yr old's comprehension level of salvation this fall. Thankfully, God opened my eyes to my child's salvation through his insistence on talking with our pastor and being baptized a few weeks ago. Since then, I "said" I wasn't going to hold my son back any longer and go deeper with him whenever he asked questions (rather than give quick, surface answers that assume that he wouldn't understand spiritual concepts). And, for the most part, we've been doing okay with that but the real test came during church this morning.
We were visiting another church for Upward (basketball) Sunday where the pastor preached on Mark 2:1-12. The sermon was about the man on the mat and about addressing your own mat and learning to give it to Christ to let Him restore you and help you live beyond the boundaries of your mat--let your mess become the Message, etc. During the invitation, the pastor invited people to come to the altar and take a square piece of towel as a symbol of taking your mat and going home. Well, our child started insisting on going forward to get a mat. In my mother-mind, I assumed that he just wanted it for the sake of wanting something. I told him no and that he could get a square if there were any leftover after church. He was getting antsy at this point and said, "No, mom, I need to get a mat because I want to trade in my sins and show that God made them no more! I don't want to live like I lived last night and I want God!" (Suffice it to say that last night was 5 yr old disobedience and disrespect in the form of a major tantrum that would leave any parent wondering what in the world they were doing wrong!) In my mind, I'm like, "What?! Is my child serious? This isn't even our church! *panic* What do I do?" Must admit that even the "What will people think?" question entered my mind, too!
I felt the Spirit saying, "Do you really trust that your child is Mine or not?" At that point, I knew that God wanted more than just words and intentions. He wanted the outward sign of surrender and obedience. Do I really let my child follow God in his own way and as he feels led to (especially because I "said" I wasn't going to hold him back any more) or do I stand here and pretend that I don't really understand what my child is asking and just leave it alone?
One more time, I leaned down and asked my child why he wanted to get a mat. He said the same thing and was ready to bolt down the aisle. Whereas the Spirit had to nudge me down that aisle, our child had this sense of boldness and courage that he doesn't usually display in new situations/crowds as he went to get his mat. When we got back to our seats, he clutched it in his hands, excited about what God has done for him. I pulled him next to me and explained what the mat meant one more time (as if to say, "You possibly couldn't have understood a whole sermon and the spiritual implications of it, right?). And in the middle of that quick conversation, it was if God was saying, "Amy, just stop! Stop!! He's mine! Let him be and trust Me!"
Maybe it's me that needs to take this mat of control, judgment and limited faith and give it to Christ so I may "Get up, take [my] mat and go home!" so that my child can be who God designed him to be in order to lead others to Christ.
I wanted to share this with my mom friends who have kids my son's age as a way to encourage you that our children are listening and learning from our lives. Regardless of what seasoned Christians may say, our kids are NOT too young to know Christ (I can't find an age limit anywhere in the Bible...)!
In some ways, seeing my son grow in Christ is tremendously exciting because he has 13 years (minimum...lol) in this home so we have 13 years to instill in him the values and teachings of Christ! There are moments when the questions come and I'm like, "This is great and all but what if he turns away or makes harmful choices when he's a teenager? What if something happens to us and he's on his own and doesn't receive all the godly training that we want for him?" This temporary worry for my son's future overshadows everything and casts doubts where doubt shouldn't be. Yet in these moments, God gently reminds me of His promises for today (and for tomorrow)! I can't do anything about the future right now except to make sure that I'm loving my child, taking advantage of teachable moments and helping him see and experience God in the day-to-day! As for tomorrow, well, this is where the rubber meets the road as I hear God asking, "Do you really trust that your son is Mine or not?"
Mark 2:1-12 (NIV)
A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
