Mommy, I Want.....

As believers in Jesus, Brian and I have had Addie's salvation at the forefront of our prayers.  We knew that this decision had to be hers completely, and we could not pressure her in any way to ask Jesus into her heart.  All we could do was present the facts and then let her make this decision for herself.... and we would benefit by knowing that this decision was genuinely made on her part.

Since she was an infant, I read her the account of the Baby Jesus and told her that Jesus loved her and wanted to live in her heart.  At Christmas time this past year, I took it a step farther and told her that Jesus was knocking on the door of her heart and wanted to come into her heart.  She said, "Sure!" like it was the most natural response for anyone to give Jesus.  But it was just a response to my comment, not an actual decision on her part.

At Easter time, we really focused on the Easter account, watched a movie which dealt with the crucifixion beautifully, went through the Resurrection Eggs, and talked about how Jesus died on the cross but now He is alive.  She would become very upset when we watched the movie and would yell at the Roman soldiers to stop hurting her Jesus.  She had a definite love for Jesus.

For the last several weeks, she has been telling me that she loves Jesus first- her way of saying that she loves Jesus more than I do.  I wasn't going to make an issue of that. I'm not going to argue with my daughter about which one of us loves Jesus the most.  I was just so happy that she loved Him!

Then on Wednesday, during our Bible time, we read the account of the crucifixion and resurrection.  And it bothered Addie that Jesus died on the Cross.

"Why did Jesus die on the cross?"

"Because, Addie, Jesus wants to live in our hearts, but He can only live in clean hearts."

At this point I drew a picture of a heart on the white board and told her that it was a picture of her heart.

"When you disobey Mommy and Daddy, you dirty your heart." I made a mark on the heart and her face dropped.  She looked devestated that her heart was dirty. I named three other offenses that are common to her and made a mark for each offense. 

"Mommy, I don't want a dirty heart. You give my heart a bath."

"That is why Jesus died on the cross and became alive again. (Not great grammar, but it had to be where a three year old could understand it.)  Only Jesus can clean your heart.  Mommy can't clean your heart.  Only Jesus can.  All you say is, 'Jesus, please clean my heart.,' and He will."

She asked Jesus to clean her heart and then moved on to other things.

Thursday, as we were getting ready for our playdate, Addie came up to me and said, "Mommy, I don't want a dirty heart."  I reminded her that we just have to ask Jesus to clean our heart and He will. 

She asked Him to clean her heart and then moved on to other things.

Friday, after meeting friends for lunch at McDonald's, we laid down on the sofa bed for a nap.  Brian texted and asked me to call him.  After our conversation, Addie said, "Mommy, I didn't talk to you when you were on the phone." That is something we have been working on for a while.  And then she said.......

"Mommy, I want Jesus in my heart."

I quickly turned around, sat pretzel style on the bed, and said, "Okay!  You just have to say 'Jesus, please come into my heart,' and He will!  Do you want to pray with me?"

"Yes."  And then she became very shy, like she knew she was doing something very important.

"Jesus," I started and she repeated.

"Please come..." I continued.

"Please come into my heart," she finished without my help.

Needless to say, I was a puddle.  God had answered my hugest prayer request! My little girl had come to know Him personally and it was her own decision.  After I called and told him, all Brian could say for a few minutes was, "That's awesome...."

I could see that God had been working on her heart for several days. This wasn't something that had been forced or pressured.  In fact, we hadn't even been talking about the Lord at the time.  It came from her at the prompting of the Holy Spirit working on her heart.

The Bible says that the angels rejoice when someone comes to know the Lord, and we were rejoicing right along with them.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends all shared in our joy.  I wasn't the only one that cried.  But they were tears of joy! Joy that a little girl... a very special little girl... our little girl..... had asked Jesus to come into her heart.