Little Children

What I had written in my journal a little while ago (started at 4:03 pm to be exact):

As for little children and innocence, I will never forget hearing Dr. DeCaro share about that in Biblical Theology class, using his son as an example. I think that little children are capable of making a decision, their own choice (at that point in their life), the best decision that a 5, 6, 7, 8 year-old can make about going to Jesus, loving Him, and wanting to live their lives for Him. God made them with brains too, be it that they're tiny and little, yet their (the brain's) ability to function is there. So, just like deciding to follow Jesus is a personal and private thing for an older child, a young adult, or an older adult, so it should be that way with a younger child. People should not impose, manipulate, or be suggestive toward a child when it comes to their salvation. For it is the child's own salvation and no one else. It is a journey that the child must choose to take. And this choice must be made by the child him or herself because just as sin was set in them as a result of Adam, Truth was there long before sin was because God created ALL people in His image - which includes children. God looked at all that He had created and declared that it was good.

But because Adam was chosen by God to be a representative for humanity (by virtue of him being the first human created), the repercussions for his actions and choices trickled down to every generation after him, as evidenced in Scripture (Cain & Abel, Joseph's brothers'). Then, with the coming of Jesus, He becomes the Second Adam - the new representative for humanity, washing away the sin of the world through the shedding of His blood on the cross at Calvary. Yet, that sin nature is still left as a result of humanity being encased in flesh - (our bodies). With carnality, comes things we can be tempted by - lust, selfishness, gluttony, jealousy, bitterness ... All the things that come with being human. And still, we are embraced and accepted by the Divine (God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Comforter and Enabler) if one (even a little one), comes before Him and confesses his or her need for salvation and redemption. Because really, there is no true, authentic, and life-changing joy, apart from the person and love of Christ.

I often wonder about the whole notion of the age of accountability and what happens to children who suffer and then die, way too young (as babies, infants) never having had the opportunity to confess their need to Jesus and come to a "decision" about their own salvation. And more than anything, that really bothers me, and I don't think it will ever stop bothering me for as long as I live.

- 4:23pm