Clausons in Mexico

“Mommy, what happens when we die?  Are we born again?  And, if we are, do we come out of your tummy like the first time?  And, how did I get out of your tummy anyways?”  As Lucas was asking these questions during our family devotions the other day, he was making large hand gestures that made us think he was imagining he would explode or pop out!  Nils and I had a hard time holding back laughter and taking these questions seriously, which they were for him.

We were reading the passage in 1 Timothy 1:12-17 and talking about sin and why Jesus needed to die on the cross.  We chose this phrase to memorize from verse 15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  And I am the worst sinner of all.”  Then, we each drew and colored a picture of what that meant to us.

I have to admit I often struggle to answer my boys’ theological (and biological) questions.  What does it mean to be born again?  What is sin?  Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?  What is heaven like?  Why can’t I hear Jesus talking with me when I pray?  How do I answer them in a simple way that they may understand?

As we talked about how we all do bad things and we all need Jesus to save us and that God loves us so much he gave his own son to die in our place so that we could live, Lucas decided he wasn’t going to do anymore bad things that day.  That led me to try and explain that we won’t be perfect now, but that God will help us to do the right thing and will make our hearts more and more like Jesus’s.  And Nils added that God still loves us, even when we do bad things, that he will always love us and forgive us.

My prayer these days is that God would help us explain these truths to our boys, that ultimately God would help us to believe them and live them each day, that His Spirit would be upon Matías and Lucas so that they would experience and know God’s amazing love for them and for all the world, and that they would respond to that love by giving their lives completely to their Savior, in love and service to Him and the world.