Am I a Christian Now?

We were all sitting around the dinner table, eating a regular dinner on a regular night. Except, with four boys, our conversations run the gamut of all sorts of subjects…important and ridiculous. But it’s conversation, as a family, and for half an hour we eat and talk and it is the most important time of our family’s day.

On this dinner occasion, the older two boys were asking about why they couldn’t be baptized in a river or creek because that is what Jesus did and they don’t want to be in a bathtub, they want the ‘real’ thing.

Which lead S3 to ask if he was a Christian too? We had been talking with him a lot lately about this, he has the concept, and he just hasn’t said the prayer. So, there at the dinner table we began to ask him…

Why did Jesus die on the cross? Do you believe what God did for us? Do you believe in God? Why do you want to be a Christian? The older two boys were asking more questions than us! S3 just kept saying “I don’t know what to say.”

When my husband asked S3 if he had ever sinned S3 looked solemn. “Yes,” he admitted sadly. “I think I have sinned some. Maybe, well, I think I have sinned a whole lot of things.”

S4 chimed in, “He has, Dad. One time, he………..” and he proceeded to tell us all the bad things his older brother had done in that afternoon, that day, that week, that month…I had to shush him.

What was silly and sad was that S4 was listening to it all and so did not want to be left out.

“All you have to do is pray and ask when you believe,” S2 explained to his little brother.

S4 says “I’ll pray! I’ll pray!” He bowed his head, “Dear God, thank you for this day. Amen.’ Am I a Christian now?” he asked excitedly.

It was so hard to be truthful and tell him no.

S3 wanted to pray but wasn’t sure so he played for the rest of the evening and later, when it was time for bed, he searched his Daddy out and asked him to pray. He wanted to be a Christian so badly. So, my husband prayed with him and a beaming five year old flung his arms around me to tell me he was a Christian now. His joy was contagious and sweet.