Does your child believe in God? And does your child believe in Jesus, God’s Son, who is Himself God? We know several children who are believers. There is one surefire way to achieve this.
The way is told to us in the book of Romans: “Faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of God.” Romans 10:17
If your children are hearing the word of God every day, faith will come! And they will probably only hear it if you read it to them.
This does not sound hard, just a few minutes out of each day to read to them from the Bible – but in my experience Satan will do just about anything to stop you.
After I came to faith at age 36, God gave me a daughter and I had Annie when I was 38. At one stage, I used to sit on her bed each night with our son Daniel, who was five years older, and read a few scriptures - usually from the gospels.
This was frustrating for Daniel, because she constantly interrupted with questions. What did this or that word mean. What is Israel? Who was Nicodemus? I probably should have read to them separately.
But they heard some of scripture and at the age of four, Annie came to faith. This was after I read some scripture where Jesus mentioned Hell.
“I know what Hell is,” said Annie. “That is where the bad people go.”
“No, Annie, that’s not quite right. Hell is where everybody goes if they do not believe in Jesus. They probably think they were good, and other people might think they were good, but if they did not put their trust in Jesus and ask Him to forgive their sins, they will go to Hell.
“It does not matter if they helped old people cross the road or if they gave away a million dollars.”
Her little eyes opened wide. “You mean GOOD PEOPLE go to Hell?” she asked incredulously.
“They might think they are good, and other people might think they are good, but the Bible tells us that no one is good except God. We are all sinners, and we all need to put our trust in Jesus to forgive our sins. “
“Well how do you do that then?” she asked.
I said she could pray and ask Jesus to forgive any bad thing she had ever done or said or thought.
“I don’t want to do that,” she said.
“You don’t have to do it; Jesus does not force anyone.”
We left it there. The next three days, she asked me the same question: “Tell me again about the good people that go to Hell and tell me how to be a Christian.”
Twice she said she would not say what I had suggested, but on the fourth day she asked again, while she was at the table coloring.
I was at the sink, and told her again what she had to do. “I can’t remember to say all that!” she complained.
“Well, I could say it a bit at a time and you could repeat it,” I said.
“Well go on then,” she said impatiently.
I said a very short version of the “sinner’s prayer” and she repeated after me.
“Well, I’m a Christian now,” she said matter of factly, and went back to her coloring.
When Alan walked in the door a few minutes later, she said, “I’m a Christian now.” “Oh, that’s nice, Annie,” he said.
And the wonderful thing is – she really WAS! That night after I read to them she said she wanted to pray, and that usually meant God bless all of us, and asking for a list of animals she wanted as pets and was not going to get.
That night it was different. She closed her eyes, folded her hands and started thanking God for everything He made. The list went on and on – animals, plants, trees, bark on trees, butterflies and their wings. It finished: “And thank You for the best thing You ever made, the flowers.”
My heart was singing, and that was just the start of 30 wonderful years of fellowship with a believing daughter.
Dr Vernon McGee says that all children will come to faith if the gospel is explained to them in the right way. But he warns that they must then reaffirm their faith once they reach the age of accountability, and no one knows quite when that is.
But Annie never wavered, thank the Lord.
So I hope any parents out there will not leave it all to school and church to instruct their children, but that they read to them regularly from the Bible, the word of God – and according to the Bible, faith will come!
Remarkable, isn’t it? God makes it all so simple for us, because we are all His children.
