Colossians 3:1-7
Put On the New Self
3 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

So the other day my 8 year old son came up to me and said "Dad last night I got saved". Now obviously this is the very thing my wife and I have been praying for, but I felt unsettled. I wanted nothing more to celebrate like crazy but having worked with youth for so many years and seen so many students who had been raised in the Church and "been saved" as a child, completely walk away, I was apprehensive wanting this to be real, authentic, and life changing not something he is doing because he knows it makes us happy. The plan was to take him out that night, celebrate and just talk about what it all meant. So as I spent some time preparing I was talking to someone who had already raised kids (not saying they were "old" or anything) and asked about what I was feeling(wanting to be excited for my son, yet begging for it to be real). He said to ask my son lots of questions, What does it mean to be saved? What is forgiveness? Why do we need forgiveness? Who is Jesus? and then to challenge/teach him what it means now to be a Christian. Obviously there is more to the story (we went the driving range and dinner at Taco bell, I asked lots of questions, had what I felt was the toughest conversation I had ever had, wanting so bad for my son to have a relationship with Jesus yet fearful that it wasn't real) but what I really wanted to share in this blog was the verse my wife sent me to give to my son (see verse above).

We talked about what are earthly things and what are things that make God happy. It left me to wonder if I made a list of all the things I did, thought or said how many of them would be things that are on earth and how many would be on things above. In a book I am reading the author said if someone says he was standing in the street and got hit by a Mac truck going 70 mph but he is totally fine, well he is probably lying because no one comes out of that without having their life drastically and physically changed. The same when Jesus gets a hold of our lives, we WILL BE DIFFERENT. So as I challenge/teach my son I too must test my self, examine my life to see if I am in the faith (2Cor 13:5), I should be equally concerned about my walk with Jesus as I was about my son's, I must set my mind on things above!

Probably should finish the story with my son, I am very excited and do believe God can save a heart at anytime and any age he wants. Sarah and I are very very proud of him and his desire to please God and we rest in the sovereignty of the Almighty God.

-Eric House