Way back when……

Romans 10:6-10   But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, ” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

So many times this ministry is early morning; a time of reflecting on my quiet time with God before facing the day. This morning I had a later start, and I had a scripture that I was searching for that took some time to find above. It was after prayer, that I found it. As the day went on, this passage preoccupied my thoughts for much of the day. It is the Gospel found, and the means of attaining it, through a humble confession to it. Following the tug that God places on your heart, your heart yearns for it and you either answer that tug He places there, or you deny it, or find false hope in attaining it in religiosity. You will pay eternally for your mistake in that false hope.

God has placed such a burden on my heart this week for the lost; even greater is the direct ministry need for our youth. I am stepping way out of my comfort zone trying to learn about children and youth ministry for our church; I am seeking counsel from those that are gifted in that area, for I am not. It is painfully clear that I am not gifted in that area to be honest. I look back at those that invested in me in my youth, and even subconsciously, how large a role they played in my life even when I was running fast and far from God. Did anyone invest in you for Christ early in life? Did you come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior, only to turn your back on him like I did? He will take you back; he never really left you to begin with. He has been there all along pricking you where it hurts as you lived your life of sin. He was your conscious talking to you all the while you were trying to silence him in so many ways. Stop trying to silence him and confess to him your sins, and plea for him to forgive you for them; he will.

How can we as parents not seek to invest in our kiddo’s? How can we as parents not seek to share with them the eternal hope found in faith in Jesus? Moses stressed to Israel the importance of investing in our children in Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. There are so many children out there facing so many things that we cannot imagine. There is so much more to see than what you see. How can we not take any and every opportunity to present that eternal hope found in the Gospel? How can we not give them something through Christ that gives them what they cannot attain here? God is truly burdening my heart for our youth. If you remember when someone invested time with you at an early age sharing the Gospel; shouldn’t you make that eternal investment yourself? If you are just feeling convicted for the life you have led since that investment, repent and believe on the One who will always forgive you when you ask. Even if you left him since childhood. It is never too late.