We have started a family prayer table. It's long overdue and has truly been a blessing. After a hectic day, we now have a time to gather in quiet, light a candle, read the Bible, and pray together. It may not happen as often as I'd like, but when it does, it really is a blessing.
Last night, we reviewed the 10 Commandments, and then read about Judgement day. You'd think my kids had never heard about it before. And they were listening! And SHOCKED!!! What does this mean??? "If you do unto the least of my brethren, you do unto me?"
I told them "Some day, you ALONE will stand before Jesus, and He will ask you how you lived out His love to the world."
Colby asked, "Well? What am I supposed to say? What's the answer?"
Me: "You won't have to say anything. He already knows. There is no right answer. He sees your heart, He sees how much you love Him, and those around you."
Colby: "So, what I do to people here it does to Jesus?"
Me: "Yes. However you treat your brother or your sister, or the kid at school.... it's as if you were doing it to Jesus. Think about that. And every time you hurt your brother or your sister or someone else... Jesus takes that on Himself, too." All three kids were very quiet with that. That's a whole new way of looking at things.
Colby: "If I have just a little bit of love in my heart, is that enough that I can live in Heaven with Jesus?"
Me: ""It's not a test with a passing grade, Colby. You can't just 'sneak by just enough'. No matter how hard you try, you will never have enough love on your own to be able to be in the presence of almighty God. Jesus knows that. That's why He died for us. So that when we fall short, He takes that part of you on Himself. So, He takes your bad, you take His good, and it transforms you. It's called Sanctification. Making us Holy. Our job is to be open to that, and follow where Jesus leads us. He wants us with Him. We just have to stop resisting."
And then we went into an analogy, about how life, THIS life that we're leading right now... it's like we're in the womb. We're being formed, shaped, prepared, for a bigger, greater life. Some people just don't know it, and try to stay in the womb forever, and focus only on the womb, because they don't know about the world full of life and light and sounds and experiences outside of it. They can't imagine, even though there are glimpses of the world outside, even from inside the womb. They can hear their mother's voice, they can feel her touch, they are fed with her blood, through her body. We can know God in similar ways, if we pay attention. And just as a baby can't grow outside of the mother's womb, so we can't prepare ourselves for Heaven without the sustenance and grace that comes from God Himself.
Colby: "What happens to those babies who die before they're born? Do they go to Heaven?"
Me: "No one knows for absolutely sure, because the Bible doesn't talk about it. But we know that Jesus loves children, and that God is merciful, so we have every hope that they do. You have at least five brothers and sisters in Heaven, you know. Can you imagine if we had eight children in this family?"
Reagan: "My sister is in Heaven! The one that was with me!"
Me: "Yup. And you'll get to meet her someday! Won't that be wonderful?"
And then we prayed together. And all the fear of this scary world disappeared, and we were at peace.
Thank you, Lord, for this family, this home. Blessings. We've got some.
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