LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

Last night I decided to hold an impromptu family Bible study with my wife & kids. I felt it was something that we finally needed to get around to doing and make the most of our time together and make a better effort of trying to raise up our children in the ways of our Lord. In doing this, I wanted to keep first things first. Our kids have grown up in church, but I’ve never really addressed the issue of salvation with them, and I figured it was time, with Ryan being 8 years old. With that in mind, I took our first time of study together to present a gospel message to Ryan.

After having Robin open us up in prayer, I asked Ryan to tell us what he knew about God, what it meant to be a Christian, and what Jesus did on the cross. He wasn’t able to really answer the questions (I think he knows the answer, but was being timid and not wanting to really answer, thinking he’d say the wrong thing). I then asked him about Adam and Eve, and he was able to give a little detail on that. I then asked him if he wanted to read the story of Adam and Eve and their fall. He said yes, so we turned our Bibles to Genesis 3 as I had Robin read aloud the first few verses of the chapter. Once she was finished, I explained the story of how they were perfect and then decided to "break God’s rules." I then asked him to repeat the story back to me in his own words, which he did. I told them that because of what they did, that’s why we all do bad things.

From there, I wanted to take him down the "Romans Road" and give him the gospel, explaining what Jesus did for us. I first took him to Romans 3:23 and had him read that aloud. I explained to him that we all do bad things, even mommy and daddy, and that was because of what Adam and Eve did. From there, we then went to Romans 6:23 and I explained to him how wages work. I told him how I go to work to make money (wages), and showed how doing bad things earns us a "bad" type of money that leads us to hell. Then I told Ryan how Jesus gave us a free gift in Jesus Christ so that we wouldn’t have to go to hell. We then flipped over to Romans 5:8, which I read to him. I used this to explain that even though we’re bad people and do bad things by breaking God’s rules, God still loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to go to hell. I used this to detail what Jesus had done for us and who He is. He understood all of that, having a worried look on his face, knowing that he had done bad things. We finally turned to Romans 10:9, 10 and I showed him what he needed to do to be saved. I told Ryan that he needed to believe everything about Jesus and then tell God that he was "sorry" for all the bad that he had done and that he wanted to live for Him. He clearly said that he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again on the third day. I made it clear that by believing and trusting those things, that Jesus had taken his punishment for him.

I then asked Ryan if he wanted to pray, repent of his sins, and become a Christian. It took him a minute or two to answer, but he said that he did. His only concern was that he didn’t know how to pray (other than saying grace before a meal) and asked if I could help him. I told him I would. Before we did, I made sure again that he understood what he was about to do. I even went down some of the Commandments and asked if he had broken those. He said yes to them (i.e. lying, hating people, stealing, etc.) and realized that he had broken God’s rules. We then bowed and I had him repeat a prayer, thanking God for sending His Son and for saving and forgiving him of his sins, then telling God that he wanted to live for Him. After we said amen, I told him that he was now a Christian.

Before we ended, I gave him a little talk on some of the things that he needed to do in order to live for God and to be a good Christian. I asked him first what he thought he needed to do. He said things like, "listen to mommy and daddy" and "be nice to my brother and sister." I also explained that it meant following directions at school and making good decisions (being responsible, which has been as issue of late). I also told him that it meant reading his Bible everyday to learn more about God, Jesus, and how to be a better Christian, as well as praying. I also told him about repenting to God when he did bad things.

All in all, I’m a very happy father right now. I praise the Lord that He has claimed another one of His own and that it’s my oldest son. It’s my prayer now that I will be able to continue to walk with him and train him up in the Faith and that he would be an example both to his siblings and friends. Thank You Jesus! Now that’s what’s up!