Just like I will never forget the day that my children were brought into this world, I will never forget their spiritual birthday either. The Bible tells us in John 3:5, that unless a person is born of water (the natural birth) and of spirit (the spiritual birth) then they can not see the Kingdom of God (Heaven). As a mother, I pray fervently for my children to experience the 2nd birth, known as, "Being Born Again". When death comes knocking on our door, I want the peaceful assurance of knowing that death is not permanent separation for me and my family. I want us to be able to worship Jesus together for eternity in Heaven.
The last few months, my sweet girl, has been asking a lot of questions about Heaven and being able to go there. She knows that God sent us His son, Jesus, to die on the cross in the place of our sins. She understands that because of Adam and Eve sinning in the garden, it has made us all be born a sinner. But, one thing, she had a hard time comprehending was the faith of trusting Jesus to come into her life and washing away her sins when she asked. She believed that He was real, She believed that He was alive, She believed that He died on the cross for our sins; but she finally grasped last night, that when you ask Him to come into your life and to forgive you of your sins - HE DOES! (Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.") Last night, as I watched her beam with excitement after her decision, it just kept a smile on my face. Jesus brings excitement to even the youngest of hearts. Something about Him moving into your life that gets you excited!
Now as a mother, I have peace of being with my baby girl for eternity. I do not have to fear of being permanently separated for all of eternity. I do not have to fear of her being tormented for all of eternity in Hell because ah rejected Him. The one thing she kept referring to was Bible stories that I had told her in school during our Bible time. If you are a Sunday School teacher, a School teacher, or a Mommy, Grandmother, ect....never give up. Keep telling them those Bible stories - they are listening. God's Word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11) - He will bring them to their memory, when He is dealing with their heart.
God's love for the World is so wonderful. He loves us all, no matter who we are, what we have done, or where we live. The Bible tells us that man's heart is desperately wicked.(Jeremiah 17:9). Even the best of people on their best day can not merit what it takes to get into Heaven. (Romans 3:23, "For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God") Last night, my baby girl said it right, she started quoting John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man can come unto the Father; but by me." Jesus is the only true way to heaven. Sin can not enter into a perfect place (Heaven) with a Holy, Perfect God. We all are sinners because of sin entering into the world through Adam and Eve in the garden when they disobeyed God and took of the fruit that God told them not to eat. (Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.") Because of our sin nature that we are born with; it inhibits us to enter into Heaven; but God sent payment for our sin, through His perfect, sinless son - JESUS. Jesus dying on the cross took our punishment.(John 3:16-17, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be save.") We have to do absolutely nothing to stay a sinner. We are all condemned already to Hell; because we are all born with a sin nature. Jesus came to free us from that condemnation. He wants to offer the gift of forgiveness to us - all we have to do is ask and accept it! By asking Jesus to forgive us of our sins; we are acknowledging that it takes something greater then what we possess (our self) and it is takes what we do not yet have (Jesus). We are accepting Jesus into our life as Ruler over our life and trusting Him to come into our life and make a change in our life. By asking Him to forgive us of our sins, we are acknowledging our sinful nature and turning away form our sinful nature. Does it mean we will never sin again? No, but it does mean the desire to want to sin will no longer be there. Because of what we possess inside of us after salvation (Jesus' Holy Spirit) Our desire to please our Savior will be greater then the desire to sin. Being born the 2nd time - means to allow someone else to move into our heart - a loving Savior named, Jesus.
Jesus's gift of Salvation is so simple but yet it baffles the minds of great men and women. So many people will reject the gift of Salvation because of pride, arrogance, unbelief, or simply because they have never heard of Jesus. When we reject Him and His gift; it tells Him that His death was in vain. The pain and agony He experienced wasn't worth us giving up ourselves to glorify and honor Him with our life. Salvation is really denouncing yourself and putting some one greater in it's place in your life - Jesus! It's so simple - even a child can understand.
