The greatest gift of all!

One day last week I was reminded of the verse Psalm 46:10 that says "Be Still and Know That I Am God." I thought at that moment how fitting it was to see this verse during the Christmas holiday. One reason being the obvious... we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and here is my reminder that "He IS GOD." Another reason it was so fitting is because this is the time of year when most people are the busiest they have been all year. This is my reminder to "Be Still," meaning be at Peace, do not stress, or even just Relax. I am so glad that God sends me gentle reminders when I need them. It has always been my desire to be in such a close relationship to God that when he softly whispers, I hear and respond.

I am not the type of person to be showy with my faith or to try and push my beliefs onto other people. I think that if I just live my life in a way that is pleasing to my Savior, He will make himself known to others through me. I am not the evangelistic type to go out and preach on the street corner or to even walk up to strangers and ask them if they are going to Heaven or Hell. I believe that as a "Christian" I am responsible to show the love of Jesus and He will do the rest. We have never pushed our children into any prayers or told them that they must believe in God because we believe in God. We pray for our children in our own prayer time that God will make himself real to them.

Tonight Josiah got the best and most perfect gift that anyone could recieve any time of the year but it was especially fitting here at Christmas time. He recieved the gift of Eternal Life. He came to me and asked "Mom do ya go to Heaven when you die?" I told him that some people do and some people don't. He said "I hope that God lets me go to Heaven when I die." I then began to explain to him that the people that go to Heaven are the ones that have a relationship or a friendship with Jesus or God. We talked about what that meant and ways that he can have Jesus live inside of him. He decided that he wanted to pray right then to ask Jesus to be his friend and live inside of him and help him live a life that makes God happy. It was a simple prayer but a very important one. I don't believe that the prayer or the particular words are what is important but the attitude and the relationship that will develop over the years. He was so excited that he immediatley went and told Karston (who has already made this decision) what he had done and said.

If we live our lives as an example of Christ, His love, His Character, His Life will shine through.