Our little man made his decision

So, each of our children has made a decision to become a Christian.  It has been an interesting journey as each child has had a different way of reaching this decision.  Our youngest was the most intriguing, and it fits right in with what I have been talking about.

So he is eight years old and has been wanting to make a decision for a long time.  About a year ago, he began to show a serious interest in God and what it means to "ask Jesus into his heart".  It was an intellectual pursuit for him for a long time.  He know all the right words to say and was good at answering all the questions about what it meant to become a Christian.  He was surrounded by a wonderful group of adults and teenagers who lived lives which demonstrated what being a Christian is all about.  However, we really did not give him a chance to do anything at the time, because it was all a head thing.

He had some work to do to understand how a relationship with Christ works.  Some of the stuff that was explained to him was actually in the way, and we had to be very careful, not to let him be caught up in an act that would have been meaningless in the greater scheme of things.

Recently, we began to sense in him the maturity of thought to begin to feel what a relationship with Christ is all about.  It became more personal and less technical.  You could tell the Holy Spirit was working on him and his heart was open to receiving on faith, what he had been so anxious to receive on fact before. 

Weird, but it wasn't until the facts got out of the way that he was able to see the relationship and the value of the faith that far exceeded the knowledge.  We are so proud and excited that he made this decision, and are confident that it was all him, not something to please us or check off a box - fire insurance so to speak.

Sometimes facts can get in the way of faith.  We need to back up and let things move at God's pace.  He knows how to work though the spirit to reach those who are stuck on the details and can't feel the spirit move them.  Slow and steady wins the race sometimes.

Facts are the truth, but without faith they just make us smart.  I want to be wise, and that requires faith in what I don't know or understand.