Should I Expect Them?

(Original appeared June 14, 2016)

When I get to Heaven, I fully expect to be welcomed into Jesus’ arms. But I also fully expect him to ask me one question. It won’t be “what did you do to earn your way here?” (I doubt he will set me up with that). Instead, it will be “Should I expect to see your children here someday?” Imagine if we, as parents, could confidently say to Him “Yes! I made my children’s faith in you a priority in my life and theirs.” My job as a Christian parent is to make sure that I do everything I can to make sure my children return to God’s loving arms. A secondary benefit of that is that we will get to spend eternity with them! That’s it in a nutshell.

At first, we might balk at that concept, thinking it’s too simplistic. I know I’m guilty of feeling that way. But if it’s so “simple”, why do we shy away from it? The fact is that structuring our lives so that we make faith formation in our children a priority is a struggle… at first. But like so many things, the longer you stay with it the more successful you become. Setting that priority eventually results in a habit. Evening devotions and prayer become second nature, and even something that our kids will look forward to.

In the case of Jacob, we made sure that one of our first phone calls was to our pastor to arrange his baptism. While hoping for healthy outcome down the road, we knew that we had to be realistic and could do at least one very important thing to ensure that Jacob’s place in Heaven would be secure and prepared for him. And for us, that has made all the difference.

So I encourage you who are parents, grandparents, Godparents/sponsors, aunts, uncles, coaches, or anyone in authority and influence over children – use that influence to do the one thing we were all called to do. Take the time to prepare their hearts and minds to love the Lord. You won’t regret it.