Last night I fell asleep on the couch, woke up around 1:30, and got in my bed but couldn’t go back to sleep. The wheels in my mind started turning. The day before, Jack (5) and Lucy (3) went to work with me. On the way home we somehow started talking about God and the devil. Jack asked who the devil was so I began to tell him about what Isaiah 14 says about Lucifer. I told him that the devil’s name used to be Lucifer and he lived in Heaven with God and the angels. God has always been king because He’s the most powerful, strongest, smartest, and nicest person there is. One day, Lucifer decided that he didn’t want God to be king anymore. He thought he should be king and be in charge of everybody. So Lucifer and the bad angels got in a fight with God and the good angels and God kicked them out of Heaven. Lucifer fell out of Heaven like a lightening bolt to the ground on the earth. Then with the conclusion of the story came the questions.
Jack: Wait, wait, wait… where on the earth did he fall?
Me: I don’t know exactly where. The bible doesn’t say.
Jack: So where does he live now?
Me: Well he lives in a bunch of places. The bible says he walks around on the earth like a lion but he’s not actually a lion he just moves around like one.
Lucy: So what is he?
Me: Well he’s a bad guy. He’s the meanest guy there is. He invented everything that’s mean and bad and God invented everything that’s nice and good.
Lucy: What does he look like?
Me: I guess a monster, he can look like different things.
Jack: How will we know if we see him?
Me: Well you probably won’t, he’s invisible most of the time. (didn’t want to get into the spirit realm, casting out devils, etc. That’s a different can of worms and I’m already struggling at this point lol)
Lucy: Well I don’t want to see him!
Me: It’s okay you probably won’t and even if you do just tell him to go away in Jesus name. Since we love God and Jesus that’s means we’re on the good side. Remember God is bigger and stronger than the devil and God made us the boss over the devil so he can’t hurt us. God is on our side. We’re on the good team.
Lucy: I want you to tell him to go away. I don’t want to.
Me: (Lord help me lol I don’t want to scare them) It’s ok God said He will protect us.
The topic changed not long after that, but as I was laying in bed at 1:30 this morning I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s amazing how kids push you to really think.
For adults, we know answers to bible questions because of what we’ve studied ourselves, teachers we’ve sat under, how we were raised, etc. Answering those questions in terms that make sense to a curious 3 and 5 year old however is a another animal. I got to thinking about salvation from a child’s perspective. We tell kids that Jesus died for our sins on the cross. If we believe in Him and ask Him to come into our heart, then we will be saved and go to Heaven one day. Let’s back up though for a second. What is sin to a child?- bad stuff, being mean, not minding Mommy and Daddy, not sharing etc. So why did Jesus have to die over that? Why couldn’t He just go to time out or get a spanking? In the old testament before Jesus came, we know that animal sacrifices were the first way to atone for sins until Jesus made it to where we don’t have to do that anymore. But can you really go there with a child? The bible says the wages of sin is death but they don’t even know what the word “wages” mean. It may sound like I’m overthinking this but I’m trying to think of how a child would respond and the questions they may ask related to the things we “grown up Christians” say.
I don’t know what the schedule is yet on the race but I’m 99.9% certain that ministering to children will be involved. I want to present the Gospel as simply as possible. I love studying the Word and looking up the Greek and Hebrew language that it was written in. I love the “deep” stuff. That’s all well and good but I understand that’s not for everyone. God has given us His Word for everyone to understand no matter what age or level of intellect.
These are the things I’m pondering at the moment, thinking out loud if you will. I know as I seek Him, He will show me how to share His truth with people and will give me the words to say at the right time. This makes me want to study more, but with a different perspective. Feel free to comment or message me with your thoughts. Love you guys!
