During the holidays, like most elementary aged children, my seven-year-old son does not have school. Like most kids his age that I’ve encountered, he takes a while to get to sleep, and contrary to my wife’s preferences, he is an uncanny early-bird.
Tuesday night, Krista told him that he was not to wake her or get out of his bed until 7 AM. Needless to say, that just didn’t happen. According to Krista and Micah, he woke up at 6 o’clock but, rather than wake Krista or his brother or his sister, he grabbed his Bible.
When Krista woke up, she found him reading in Isaiah. He was searching for a verse that he had heard at A Rockin’ Christmas Eve’s Eve at The Connection Church. He had read multiple chapters before finding what he was looking for.
Three things came to my mind when Krista relayed this to me while my eyes welled-up with tears:
1. I can’t get over how grateful I am that God drew my son to himself and saved him.
2. Thank God that my son loves to read and loves to read the Bible. It was just about a year ago that he let me know that he had finished reading his first Bible (a story Bible) cover-to-cover in two weeks. He now has his “big-boy Bible” (a Holman Christian Standard nonetheless) and is reading it as he’s prompted.
3. We, especially those of us in ministry, make things so stinkin’ difficult. My son doesn’t have a reading plan, and I don’t force my kids to have a quiet-time. But God prompts my son, gives him the thought and desire to read God’s Word.
Sometimes I wish I could take credit for my son’s faith, but I couldn’t possibly. It’s amazing how he is drawn to God. My hope – my prayer – is that his sister and baby-brother are drawn in the same way.
But that’s just about the best early-Christmas present I could have received.
