“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” — (Romans 10:9-10)
A few years ago, Ling was sick at home with the flu. Our 5-year-old daughter Jennifer was very concerned. With tears welling up in her eyes, Jennifer looked at mom lying on
the bed and asked, “Mom, are you going to die?” Ling said, in her motherly understanding, “Some day, Mom will die…but you know what? Jesus said I will go to Heaven.”
Jennifer thought for a moment. “But what will happen to me?”
“Do you want to go to Heaven too?” asked a hopeful Mom.
After another short pause, Jennifer asked, “Where is Heaven?”
“Heaven is the place where good people go,” said Mom. “A long time ago, Mom prayed to Jesus to forgive and forget all that I’ve done wrong. And He did. And He said when I die, I will be with Jesus in Heaven.”
It’s the child-like faith that makes it easier for the little ones. It’s the years and years of sin that makes it harder for grown-ups to come to Jesus with yielded hearts.
There are two types of people in the world. People who are forgiven and people who have not asked for forgiveness. Only “good” people go to heaven, but there is no one that is completely “good,” or “without sin.” According to the Bible, we all are sinners, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The price of our sins is death, or a spiritual separation from God. It’s the difference between being allowed into Heaven or not. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows the sins we commit, our heart’s condition and our pathway to Heaven. That pathway is through the gift of Jesus Christ, who came down to earth from Heaven to pay the penalty of sin for us individually. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
If we believe that (1) we are sinners, (2) the price of our sins is our own death, and (3) Jesus loves us enough to give His life as payment for our sins, then all we have to do is (4) accept that gift to Heaven. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
Jennifer responded to her mom, “I want to go to Heaven too.” Ling said, “All you do,” Ling told her, “is pray a prayer like this: ‘Jesus, I know I’m not always good all the time. I want to ask You to forgive me for being bad. I want You to come into my heart to save me. I want to be with You in Heaven.’”
At age 5, Jennifer came to know the Lord that day. No matter what age you are, you can come to know the Lord as your Savior. It’s the child-like faith that makes it easier for the little ones. It’s the years and years of sin that makes it harder for grown-ups to come to Jesus with yielded hearts. As Jesus said, “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).