Scribbles on the Heart

Two days ago we celebrated Joel's seventh birthday. Today, we celebrate his new birth! At a little after 7:00 this evening Joel trusted Christ as His Savior! During supper, out on the patio, we were reviewing Ethan's memory verse for Sunday School - "The lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all He has made" (Psalm 145:13). So, does this mean we can trust God to give us a new bicycle tomorrow? Our kids apparently have a touch of the prosperity gospel in them because Joel and Ethan both answered in the affirmative. "But did God promise us a new bicycle?" Of course not, so what did He promise? "A new body when we die," Joel answered. Who will get this new body? "People who are saved." Are you one of them? "Ummm... no." And so, the real conversation began. For some time now Joel has been able to articulate saving faith very clearly for his age, and for some time he has known that saving faith is something he does not possess. We have been encouraging him to think about it, pray about it, ask questions about it, and when he is ready we will be thrilled to walk him through expressing this faith to God in repentance. So tonight I simply asked, "What is stopping you?" "Well, I just don't have the time." We all know what a seven-year-old's schedule is like, what, with all the car playing, Veggie-Tale watching and tree climbing. I told him that when he's ready we will make the time, no matter what. He said, "Then I guess we ought to do it tonight." Exactly what I was hoping for!

I encouraged him to talk to God about this while I get his brothers in bed, and then if he still thinks this is the right time we will stay up and talk some more. And so we did. I was walking him through some Scripture and came to Romans 10:9-10. "For with the heart one believes and is justified..." O boy. I forgot "justified" was in there. How do I explain "justified" to a seven-year-old? Only seconds into my explanation he said, "Wait, I know this. When we sin it's like scribbles on our heart. When we confess our sins Jesus' blood is like an eraser and then God doesn't see the scribbles anymore." Martin Luther himself couldn't have said it better!

His prayer was a beautiful seven-year-old prayer, "God, I hope you'll save me because I'm a sinner. Please forgive me, and I hope You'll help me to do what's right."

My son is now my brother, and the scribbles on his heart are forever erased. Thanks be to God!