“Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Mark 10:15

A Child’s Salvation

I remember it like it was yesterday—that moment when He called me to Himself. I was lying in bed in my childhood home. My parents had accepted the Lord when I was only two years old. Now at the age of five, having watched and learned about Jesus in Sunday school, I had godly examples to look up to. It was as if I could audibly hear God speaking to my heart saying, “Now child. It is time. It is time for you to ask Me in your heart.” Dad was away at work and Mom was reading in the living room. I quietly crept out of my bedroom to go tell her and ask her to pray with me.

Since that day, now many years later, I have often pondered and asked myself, “What could I really have been saved from at such a young age of five?” I have been guilty of having thoughts of comparison such as, “What about the many who lived the way of the world and really had something to compare to—the before and after of knowing Jesus!” Or, “My testimony isn’t as powerful as someone who comes to Jesus out of living a life of drinking, drugs, or worse.”

Recently the Lord showed me something powerful. He showed me that He saved me from being separated from Him for eternity! Had I not taken that step of obedience at the tender age of five, I may have lived my whole life possibly ignoring and rejecting the many other times I’m sure He would have pursued me. No, I do not have a gory, detailed story of how terrible my life was before Jesus. I do have a powerful story, though! I have the promise of forever being His and going to live with Him forever in heaven someday.

My mom even remembers that day so long ago and recounts to me how it was from her perspective. She recalls how anytime someone in our home church got baptized, emphatically I would proclaim that “I’ll never do that! I’ll never get baptized!” The moment after we prayed together that night in the living room, the first thing I said to her was, “Mom, I want to get baptized as soon as I can!” She even said that although I was generally a “good” child, my Sunday school teacher commented that she noticed a difference in me—a Jesus difference since asking Him in my heart.

“Father, thank You for calling me to yourself so long ago when I was a child so that I could benefit from getting to know You all these years. Thank You for protecting me from all that could have been, and especially from a life without you! I am so thankful this Thanksgiving season for my salvation.”