Conversations with a 4-year-old

Saturday night I was sitting on the couch at my mother's house, and my nephew came into the living room and crawled in my lap. He had his children's picture Bible with him, and needed to show me something. He opened the Bible to the story about Jesus' crucifixion.

He wanted to know why the men were hanging on the cross and why the Roman soldier "poked them" with his sharp stick. He also asked what the men did to die. I explained that the two men on the sides were bad and that they died because they did bad things. But then I explained that Jesus never ever did a bad thing his whole life. I also explained the Jesus was God, and that he was very good. However, he had to die so we could go to heaven and be with him one day.

We had to discuss this for a few minutes before he fully understood. And then he asked why the Roman soldier was so bad. Being the caring auntie that I am, I tried to soften the story a little and say the soldier was guarding the men. But then Will corrected me and said he was bad and poked the men. My sister said he already knew the story, and he knew the soldier was bad. (Oops!) My nephew then said he wished he could crawl in the book and hit the bad soldier so he didn't poke Jesus or other men. My sweet nephew is such a caring little boy, and he wanted to protect Jesus.

Will is a very smart child, and I was impressed with how much he has retained from going to church and talking to his parents about Jesus. I am always impressed with his sensitive and caring heart. He is a precious little boy.

We went on and discussed other parts of the book, including the resurrection and ascention to heaven. Will does not want to fly in the air and go to heaven like Jesus. He also doesn't want to have holes in his hand. Even though is is young, he really seems to understand who God is and the stories of the Bible.

It was a very precious time sitting with my nephew and discussing our Lord. I pray for him and his sister all the time to grow up in the ways of the Lord, and to love and follow Him from a young age. My job as an aunt will be to pray for them, speak with them, and help their mom and dad and grandparents as we all train them up in the ways of the Lord.