Salvation belongs to the Lord!

A4 sized gospel tract
(the smaller booklets
are for them to share to
their friends if they want to)

Joshua and I have never assumed that our children are Christians simply because we raise them to be so. It's a personal decision that they have to make for themselves. Thus, all we'd done was simply to teach them enough about God to allow them to make an informed decision in the future.  During communion time in church, I'd always told them that they were not supposed to partake of the elements because they were not yet Christians and they seemed to have understood my explanation. During our bible studies, I simply taught them about the nature of God and explained what God expects from us, highlighting how we can never live up to it on our own.

Recently, it has become increasingly difficult to draw the line as they started demonstrating a functioning faith in Jesus and sought to obey Him in little ways, e.g. praying for those around them unprompted, proclaiming that they are not afraid because Jesus is with them, thanking God for happy things that happened and asking me to pray for them when they meet difficulties. Once, I asked them if they were Christians, fully expecting them to say that they were not, I was surprised when even Joash seemed unsure. In fact, Jayna protested that she was a Christian because she believed in Jesus. I then knew that it's time for them to know the difference between knowing about God or believing in Jesus and making the intelligent commitment to invite Jesus into their lives as Lord and Savior. 

After seeking the advice of the ladies in our CG during our sisters' night out, I decided to share the gospel in its entirety to Joash and Jayna, and Joshua agreed to do it with me. We printed out the gospel tract for children we found online (Click HERE for the site) and got nice cards for them to write down their commitment as a beautiful reminder of the day they accepted Christ. We asked my mum-in-law to take care of Jaide while we went to Vivocity to find a quiet place for the session.

At the Pacific Coffee Company, Joshua shared to Joash while I spoke to Jayna. What was presented was not new to them and thus it didn't take lengthy explanations to help them understand the concepts. When it came to the decision part, Joash was rather shy about it (as mentioned by Joshua) while Jayna was so eager to pray the prayer because she didn't want Jesus to be outside of her life anymore. I tried to highlight the enormity of the decision she was making but she seemed to be annoyed that I kept ascertaining her understanding of the commitment. 

After they prayed to receive Jesus, we let them write down a message to Jesus. Joash could write it by himself but Jayna needed me to help guide her hand. We ended the session with a ice chocolate drink for both of them to celebrate.

During bedtime prayer tonight, the children were very happy and excited when I told them that Jesus is now not just with them but is also in their hearts and He'll never leave them or forsake them. In fact, Jayna remembered the commitment card very clearly. 

I am thankful for this day when we can celebrate their salvation, granted that there is a possibility for them to backslide when they are older. However, salvation belongs to the Lord and I'm sure God honors the child-like faith that they've demonstrated today. We will continue to disciple them and encourage them in their walk with God and renew their commitment every 7th of July, their spiritual birthday. By the time they are teens, we hope that they would then make the public confession of their faith through baptism. Do pray together with us for that day to come. *grin*

The covers of their commitment cards

On the inside