22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
24 “This is my blood of the[c] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
I grew up in a christian home. I could talk the talk but I definitely did NOT walk the walk if you know what I mean. I knew the gospel backwards and forwards but Jesus was never MY savior....until the ripe old age of 26. Praise the Lord for seeking me out and saving me from myself and my sins. One of my biggest struggles with my faith even today is complacency. Knowing the "stories" but not really hearing them and applying them to my life, doing communion but not always thinking about WHY I am doing communion, etc. So in order the fight this complacency I have to make sure I really think about what I am reading in the bible....not just read over a passage I have heard and read many times but dig in and try to understand what God is trying to teach me TODAY in that passage. When I take communion....I have to pause and think about the bread representing Jesus' broken body for me. The grape juice....the blood that he spilled for me freely, because he loved me. When I stop and pause and think about it all....I am amazed as His goodness, His love, His grace, His mercy.
And we have started to pray for our children to come to know the Lord at an early age. I would accept any age that they would come to know Him but I just know that I would not have had some of the heartaches and struggles and emptiness that I did if I had known Jesus and accepted Him as my Savior at a young age. (though I know a believers road is not always nice and easy)
One of the things about the new church we go to that I LOVE (but was extremely hesitant about at first) is that our children come into service with us. We were not used to this. They do have a nursery for the young ones but the older ones sit with you. Truthfully, we did not really like this at first. We felt a little distracted in service and selfishly we wanted to get as much as we could out of the service. But God has used this small thing in our lives for His glory. Andie has been sitting with us every service and I have seen a LOT of growth in her as she sings worship music next to mom and dad....as she listens to the pastor preach (though she does color and draw a lot as well!) and as she prays while we pray. It has been a neat experience for us.
Enter monthly communion. A time to remember what Jesus did for us sinners. And I know people do this differently but we partake in communion when you recognize that Jesus is your savior. His body was beaten and blood was shed for YOUR sins....that all of us, being sinners, could recognize this gift, accept it and then be able to be in the presence of a Holy and Perfect God....completely cleansed of all sins....isn't that amazing. Well, Andie thought so. She wanted to partake and we said...."no, not yet. When you know Jesus is your savior you will be able to do this with us and that will be awesome."
So a few weeks after that communion, we were reading Narnia....The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I am in awe of how the Lord works through many different means to reach people because Andie "got it" after reading this book. We had come to the part in which Aslan, the lion, dies for Edmund even though Edmund was a traitor and deserved to die a traitors death and Aslan had not done anything wrong. I asked Andie what this reminded her of....and we had a conversation about how this was like Jesus. Now we have had this conversation many, many times. About how Jesus died for our sins even though he was sinless. But I think the book just made it more tangible to my not-quite 6-year old. We started talking about sin and she talked about ways that we sin and that Jesus had no sin. She then said...."mommy I don't want to die a death like Edmund was going to." I thought to myself at that moment that it was incredible how much she understood. That it just wasn't a story to her any more. Well....we prayed and she asked Jesus to come into her heart....hallelujah!!
Do I know for sure if my 5 year old has Jesus in her heart....only God really knows the heart of any man. But she has been talking about being changed. And as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
So this last communion at our church, Andie partook with us. This was her first communion. Craig and I were both very hesitant to do so...not knowing for sure if she was "ready". I think both Craig and I had a long, hard road before we accepted Jesus....we just didn't understand that a young, five year could "get it".
In Luke 18 it states
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
So I pray that we will look back at February 25th, 2013 as the day that Andie came to know her savior. I pray for her walk with him. She challenges me to accept His free gift as a child does. With great faith and little hesitation.
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