Lexi's Conversion!

Lexi just prayed to receive Christ! I know, it is hard to believe an almost-three-year-old could grasp such a concept, but I really think she understood the basics and made a free choice, as opposed to blindly repeating after an anxious mom trying to force her child's name into the Book of Life.

I was putting her to bed, and we read in her toddler Bible about Jesus dying on the cross. That's when Lexi asked me why Jesus died. The exchange went something like this:

Lexi: Why did Jesus die?
Me: Well, you know how sometimes you make bad choices?"

Lexi nodded.

Me: God doesn't like it when we make bad choices. So, he sent Jesus to live on Earth, and Jesus never made any bad choices. He only made good choices. And when Jesus died, God said you and I could have Jesus' good choices, and Jesus could take our bad choices. That way we can be friends with God today and go to Heaven to be with God some day. BUT, you have to ask Jesus to come live in your heart first.

Lexi's wheels turned. Then she said, "I want to go to Heaven and see God!"

Me: You do?
Lexi: Yeah!
Me: Ok, well there is only one thing you have to do.
Lexi: Ok.
Me: You have to pray to God and ask Jesus to come live in your heart.
Lexi: Ok!
Me: You want to pray with me, and I'll show you what to say?
Lexi: Yeah!

And then I repeated what I said above, in the form of a prayer, pausing to give her time to repeat after me. And she did! (Further evidence that this was a free choice on her part is that for the past 2 months or so, every time I've asked her if she'd like to pray before bed, she's said no.)

And then we hugged, and she grinned from ear to ear. Then she said, "Ok, let's go to Heaven!" I said, "You will one day because you asked Jesus into your heart." She said, "I want to go to Heaven right NOW!" "So do I," I replied, "but God has to decide when it's time for us to go to Heaven." She seemed satisfied with that answer.

Then she wondered aloud if Baby Allie could come to Heaven with us even though she didn't ask Jesus into her heart... But Lexi quickly (and correctly) decided that Allie can still go to Heaven because she is just a little baby!

What a sweet conversation and a pivotal point in Lexi's spiritual life, on Easter Eve, no less!