Have you noticed how young ears hear more than we sometimes think they do?
The other day, three year old “Kay-bib” (he's still working on pronouncing, “Caleb”) heard Keith and Kristyn Getty sing, “Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Reacting to the song, Kay-bib told his mother, “I love Jesus” (stated most enthusiastically). He then inquired, “But Mom, what is the blood of Jesus?”
Mom replied, “Well, when Jesus died on the cross for us, He was bleeding. He saved us from our sins on the cross. So this song is our way of being thankful for Jesus' doing that.” Kay-bib was pensive as he let tumble out, “I love Jesus' blood.”
At this point seven year old “Big Sis” marched over boring holes in Kay-bib with her intensity. She pontificated, “You better take this part seriously, dude. I mean, this is serious!” Though her sermon was brief—just two sentences—it was delivered with a conviction recalling Jonathan Edwards or George Whitfield.
What exactly Big Sis intended for Kay-bib to do to validate his agreement to “take this part seriously, dude” I do not know. But I do know her concern was real—and right. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” asked the writer of Hebrews.
It is sobering, that a seven year old would grasp eternal verities—even those pertaining to eternal life or damnation—with greater ease than many intellectually nuanced adults.
But beyond an inflated sense of our own “knowledge,” many never come to faith because of a spiritually laissez faire attitude. So steeped are we in the cultural art of “chilling,” many of us desperately need the warning Big Sis blurted out: “You better take this part seriously, dude. I mean—this is serious!”
Indeed, “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
Three-year old Kay-bib gets that.
Seven-year old Big Sis gets that.
Do you?