Sharing Jesus

When I hold Baby Caleb in my arms, when he gives me the biggest smile, when I watch him peacefully sleeping, I feel a deep urge in my heart to be with him forever.

I so desperately want Caleb to know the Lord and to love Him well. I want him to seek God's will first in His life. I want Caleb to be in heaven with us.

I know that salvation is not inherited-that someday Caleb is going to have to make that decision to follow Christ on his own. I also know that it's super important that Ross and I cultivate a household that honors and talks about the gospel often.

Caleb is only 6 months old- but he's heard the salvation story often. You may think I'm a little crazy, but I want discussions about the Bible and God to be commonplace in our house. So whenever I sin (which I am discovering happens an awful lot...) I tell Caleb why I do. Here's what that looks like:

The other day, Caleb was cranky. He was tired and illogical. He was screaming at me, pulling my hair, scratching my face. I was getting majorly frustrated- very fast. In a moment of weakness, I sinned, and in a very loud voice told him to "Just go to sleep!" (The fact that my voice was loud didn't necessarily make it a sin- but I can tell you that the anger I felt in my heart was definitely sinful...)

I immediately felt regret and told Caleb I was sorry. I then told him that Mommy wishes she never sinned, but that isn't possible. I told him how God made the world and He made it good. He made us and we were good. But we chose to not obey God and let sin into the world. And sin is what makes things that were meant to be glorious and beautiful, not so glorious and beautiful anymore. I told him that everybody who has every lived sins, except Jesus. Then I tell him that Jesus was God's son- all God and all man- and that he lived a perfect life. Jesus died and took our sins upon Himself. If we believe in Him we can go to Heaven and live with Jesus forever. Meanwhile, here on earth, we still sin but God is at work in us to make us more and more like Jesus.

Now, Caleb was crying through most of this gospel presentation, but it's still important that I share it. He needs to hear these words- these life-giving words. He needs to know the story and just how beautiful it is. So I've committed to sharing it with him whenever I can.

Now the question, for myself, is: How come I don't feel that sort of conviction with every person I meet? Every one of us is fallen and headed for Hell. How come I don't give that presentation to people in the grocery store, at the bank, at the mall? How come I don't talk about it with people that are close to me- aunts and uncles, friends? How come I don't even remind fellow believers about the beauty of the gospel?

Here's the truth and it's ugly: I don't love people the way that I should. I love Caleb and my love for him is deeper than it is for almost everyone. My pure desire to share Jesus with Caleb comes from a deep mother's love for him.

So a new prayer for mine is that I'd share the gospel much more openly. That God would give me a heart like Him, that loves each and every person as a dear, sweet child.

Will you pray that prayer with me? And will you seek to share the gospel with people. Start with your family- your kids and your spouse. And then let the Lord lead you from there.