I was talking to my son Jacob tonight about God.  For those of you who don’t know, Jacob will be eight years old in a couple of weeks.  I was trying to put into practice some of the things I am learning from reading Tedd Tripp’s book “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” a synopsis of which I have started on this blog.  So, we were talking about the heart being the wellspring of life and how in all our decisions, our focus should always be on how we will glorify God in any given situation.  Jacob explained to me, as he is prone to doing, that he was about to change the subject.  What he said next astounded me and caused my heart to well up with emotion.  He said:

“Dad, it’s kind of like this.  It’s like God is standing at the gates of heaven and wants us to come in, but no matter what he does, we keep trying to run the other way, and the only thing in that direction is hell.  But, Jesus keeps running to catch us and get us turned back around towards heaven.”

When I asked him where he had heard that, he told me that he had been reading his Bible and that was just the way it seemed to him that people were.  I was speechless.  in 60 words, he had encapsulated the gospel and the Christian life better than I ever could have.  Which reminds me of another Jacob story from this past fall.  He and I were alone together in the car driving to or from one of our kids’ many activities.  He asked me what I thought he should be when he grew up.  For the last couple of years he has always said that he wanted to be a pastor when he grows up, so I asked him if he still wanted to do that.  He told me probably not.  When I asked why, he explained that he wanted a job where he could “help people and tell them about Jesus.”  My pastor got a kick out of that one. 🙂

At church, our response cards have a place for “bragging on God.”  Tonight, that seems like an appropriate think to do.  In the words of the Holy Spirit recorded by Paul, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord!” God is truly awesome, and he has an extraordinary way of working through kids to teach adults about himself.  If I started to list out all the things God has taught me through both the words and actions of my kids, it would take a long time, but this is certainly one instance I will never forget!