A Day to Remember

Last night, Ephraim surprised me during his bedtime prayers by asking Jesus to help him be a better person. He is 5 1/2 and not extremely mature even compared to typical 5-year-olds. I told him that was a good thing to pray for and that it was a tiny step towards eventually asking Jesus to save him. He surprised me again by saying he wanted to ask Jesus to save him right then.

I thought for a moment. Nathan was saved on New Year's Eve the year he was 5; and I couldn't help comparing the boys. Nathan had been adamant about asking Jesus into his heart, but I was reluctant because of his age. Truthfully, I tried to talk him out of it, saying, "Nathan, you don't have to do this until you're ready;" to which he replied "Mommy, I am ready... why won't you just let me do this?" Nathan prayed the sinner's prayer and knew & believed everything he was supposed to believe; but I worried because of his age. In hindsight, I see now that his salvation was real... he was one way before salvation and a different way afterwards.

Now, almost 3 years to the day later (December 27th this time); I had another 5-year-old asking me the same question. I compared Ephraim's maturity level with Nathan's at the same age, and sighed. "Ephraim, let's think and talk about this for a few days... and if you are really sure you are ready and if I'm really sure you understand what it means to ask Jesus to save you... well, I'll help you pray the prayer on New Year's Eve, just like Nathan did."

This was not good enough for Ephraim. He could not sleep; and could not let go of the idea of asking Jesus to save him right then. It was as if Someone had taken hold of him...

I thought again about how it turned out with Nathan... about how in hindsight I can see the reality of his conversion and the Truth of Jesus living inside of him. As I considered Ephraim's eagerness to be saved by God... to commit to making Jesus the Lord of his life... I thought, "Who am I to stand in the way of this?"

So, I helped him.

I have adopted and adapted (though definitely DID NOT invent it!) a simplified method of explaining salvation to very young children: the ABC method.

A: Admit you are a sinner.

B: Believe Jesus is God's son and that Jesus died on the cross for you and that Jesus rose again on the 3rd day.

C: Confess/Commit to make Jesus the Lord (boss) of your life.

Also important: to love Jesus and to understand he is the bridge to God; that without Him none of us can get to God; and that he became the bridge by taking our punishment for us when He died on the cross. One of Matthew's friends said, "It's kind of like Jesus took our spanking for us."

There's more, of course... a lifetime more to learn about Jesus... but that is about as much as a 5-year-old can comprehend... for now...

We will wait to have Ephraim Baptized (unless he insists) to give him a chance to really learn about the Person living in his heart and to give him a chance to grow old enough to remember the day he obeys Christ's first request be being Baptized. This will also give us a chance to see Ephraim's salvation story unfold... and allow Ephraim to be old enough to be able to say, "This is what I was like before Jesus saved me... and this is how I changed..."

What a night!