Acts 10:42-43
God told us to announce clearly to the
people that Jesus is the one he has chosen to judge the living and the
dead. Every one of the prophets has said that all who have faith in
Jesus will have their sins forgiven in his name.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
We
were sitting at the VBS closing one night, and Timothy asked, “What
does Jesus look like?” I explained that we really don’t know…because He
lived a long, long time ago. But some people think Jesus had long hair
and wore something called a robe…sort of like a man’s dress or a long
shirt. His next question is, “But where IS Jesus?” I told him that
Jesus lives in Heaven – with Mam-ma Polly – but His spirit lives in our
heart…that He is always with us, sees everything we do and hears
everything we say. “But we can’t SEE Him!” Timothy protested. No, I
explained, He is with us like a spirit. I asked if he knew what a
spirit was…sort of like a ghost. He nodded yes. “Well, this is how
Jesus’ spirit lives in our heart with us.” “Okay!” Timothy said
happily. He was more satisfied with my answers than I was!
Explaining
Jesus to a small child is a challenge at best. You don’t want to say
the wrong thing and make Jesus out to be some sort of cartoon character
or magic fairy…but you have to describe Him in relatable terms that a
child can understand. I’ll be honest…describing Jesus to grown-ups
isn’t a whole lot easier!
What we can tell children of all
ages is how much Jesus loves us. We can talk about His grace, mercy,
compassion, and incredible sacrifice on our behalf. We can share His
promises of being reunited in Heaven someday – of spending all eternity
in His presence. And we can talk about how Jesus fills our heart and
guides our steps each and every day.
Faith is an incredibly
nebulous concept. People tell us to have faith that Jesus is with us…to
trust that God will heal our bodies and those of our friends and loved
ones…to have confidence that Jesus is coming back someday…to believe
that Jesus died for our sins, and that all we have to do is invite Him
to be our LORD and Savior, and we are guaranteed to spend Eternity in
His presence. But all we have is the word of another…and the
scriptures. We operate 100% on what we have been told by other people –
and what we sense is true in our heart…our only visible example is that
of believers and disciples among us who strive to emulate Jesus on a
daily basis. It’s no wonder that we wonder…and sometimes doubt!
We
must be merciful and tender toward those who question. We must
demonstrate our own faithfulness to others. We must encourage them and
give them reason to believe what they read and hear about Jesus as they
observe how we demonstrate grace, mercy, forgiveness, love and
compassion in His name. We must confidently declare that Jesus is
real…and that His Holy Spirit is alive and well within us. And we must
encourage child-like acceptance of these declarations and offerings.
Questions
are normal…and necessary. But we Christians have to be ready with
confident answers and a heavy dose of God’s grace and mercy. Are you
prepared? Isn’t it time you were?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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