I wanted to write about something that happened a few weeks ago. It was a Saturday night, a little after 8:00p.m. Being one of Alex's only evenings home, we were about to put "Pirates of Caribbean:Dead Man's Chest" into the DVD player (after watching a little bit of election coverage, that is). Although we had tucked our kids into bed 5 minutes prior, we heard footsteps coming down the stairs along with a slight wimper. By the time Josiah got down the stairs the wimper had turned into a cry. Being very unlike him to get out of bed, we were somewhat concerned and asked him what was wrong. He said that he was having bad thoughts. We asked him about what. He said he was thinking about going to hell, and tears were in his eyes. This was completely out of the blue, or I guess you could say completely from the Holy Spirit. I will never forget the look in Alex's eyes as he sat Josiah on his lap. Alex thrives off of "teachable moments" and boy was this a teachable moment. Josiah knew about salvation, Jesus' sacrifice for us, and having a relationship with the Him. But, he had never made the personal decision to allow Christ to come into his life and be his Lord...that is until that night. It was beautiful. Alex and I were both crying and we raced to the phone in order to be the first to call our parents.
I had joked in the past, when Josiah was being disrespectful to me, that although that type of behavior needed to stop, I thought, "Wait a minute...he's not a Christian. His sinful nature isn't under the authority of his Lord and Savior." And even though I was joking around about that, I knew there would be a time when he would realize he was a sinner and want to feel the cleansing power of Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, that he has now experienced that.
I also became a Christian at the age of 6 and I know that I didn't have a complete lifestyle change, but it was a real experience. Josiah isn't preaching from the rooftops about Christ's saving power, he still disobeys me, and still fights with his brothers, but I eagerly anticipate his growth in Him. One change I have noticed in him is his desire to pray. Prior to this night he would often shy away from praying out loud because he didn't always know what to say. But, I am now not even tempted to tuck my babies into bed without saying a prayer...and Josiah always follows, ending his prayer with thanking Jesus for dying on the cross.
2 comments:
It's so sweet. I'm not sure of Flynn's level of understanding, but last summer she told me she wanted Jesus to come into her heart.
I prayed with her & now she makes reference to how she has Jesus in her heart but Bubby does bad things because Jesus doesn't live in Bubby's heart.
She even told me that Maya & Miguel (PBS) have Jesus in their heart...so apparently she has some type of discernment to go along with her tv-watching skills.
Glad to hear you were starting a blog. I've been using mine for therapy for almost 2 years now. It's lots of fun! (you can click to mine by clicking on my name, my profile, & on the actual blog's link at the bottom of that page).
Have a great week!
Thanks for recording that sweet story. As you said, you were also only 6 years old when you prayed to receive Christ. I remember some time that next week you and one of your friends from the neighborhood came in to my bedroom where I was reading my Bible. You said, "Read the Bible to us." I was amazed that already you had a hunger for God's word. That and a desire to pray, as Josiah has, are evidences of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Now Jesus is not only the "God of Bub" but He is also the God of Josiah. (You need to write that story)
Mom
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