A ‘BORN-AGAIN’ CHRISTIAN – AGED 3 YEARS!

SCRIPTURE: But your iniquities have separated you from your God…..for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Isa.59:2, Romans 3:23.

My father had a regular job, was not a Christian, and only attended Church for weddings, baptisms and funerals, like so many others. When I was a baby he was confonted with the Gospel message of hope, and he ‘gave’ his life to Christ. About a year later, he felt he wanted to become a minister. He believed that ‘the Lord had led him’ into fulltime committment, and was sure that if he entered a Bible Training College to study for this Call of God, that God would provide all of the physical needs for the entire family while receiving no income. Financial Government study assistance was not available at that time, he had no money in the bank, and there was no extended family who could really help us, as most were not Christians themselves and thought he was straight out crazy to abandon secure and financially healthy employment.

Undaunted, we moved interstate. He and my mother began studies – mother was part-time. I was three years old, my siblings were at various stages of schooling, and none of us really knew the financial predicament father had placed us all in.

One night we had nothing to eat for tea, as we had no money for food. Nevertheless mother set the table as normal, and placed the condiments out ready. Dad announced that we would trust Jesus, see a miracle in our midst because of our faith, and say our thanks for the food as usual, then wait and see how The Lord would provide for us. I shut my eyes tightly during what we called ‘Grace’ and fully expected that when I opened my eyes, behold, our plates would all be filled with food…… but NO-O-O-O, I could not believe it when I opened my eyes to discover the table still empty!!!

Daddy told us that the reason God had not provided for us was that there must be ‘SIN’ within the family which was preventing Jesus to provide our

1. Daddy was not sinning because he was obeying ‘The Lord’s Call’ to enter full time ministry.

2. Mummy was not sinning because she, too, was studying at the College, and thereby supporting Daddy in his ‘Call’.

3. My ten year old sister had received Christ as Saviour so it was not her. As well, she was reading her Bible and saying her prayers every night.

4. My six year old sister had also asked Jesus into her heart and was praying regularly each night.

SO……….

5. IT MUST BE ME!!!!!! I was only three years old, but was told I had never confessed my sins, fully repented, or asked Jesus to be my Lord and Saviour.

THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED!!!

I WAS THE SINNER!!!!

The guilt this laid on me was just enormous. I was blocking the entire family from God’s Blessing (and food !!!), because I was a sinner, and Jesus couldn’t even look upon sin. One of the older children took me to my bedroom and ‘led me to the Lord’. I didn’t have a clue what SIN was, or which sins I was committing, but I was certainly repentant, because I sure was hungry! I invited the dear little baby Jesus into my heart, and truly believed that the SIN in the house was now gone. We all sat up at the table, held hands and sang a chorus we had learned at Church. I was so pleased that I was no longer a blockage to God and His blessing on our entire family would now be able to flow freely.

Thus I became a true ‘born – again’ Christian, and was told that my whole life endeavour from now on was to witness for Jesus, and lead others into freedom from SIN and the assurance of Eternal Life, whatever that meant!

BUT……we still went hungry! Even after all that, and we again said grace, the table remained empty.

The impact of this on my life as a three year old was absolutely enormous. Even without sin blocking God’s blessing, He did NOT provide our needs!!!

That was the beginning of many, many nights of going to bed hungry. Some mornings we had no breakfast either, but Mummy always said all we needed was a glass of water and a swift walk, and that this would give us all the energy we needed for the day. God knew what was best for us, and this must be His best. I was not so sure…

Soon we had no money for the house rental either, so as well as being hungry, we had nowhere to live. God definitely does NOT provide our needs, I thought.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, as a child I heard the word SIN when I needed to hear LOVE. I can clearly see now how this experience impacted badly on my view of you, O God, when it was not your fault at all. Help me, now, as a parent and a grandma, to be increasingly aware of the image of you that I portray to my family and those close to me. Help me to accept responsibilities which are really mine, and not blame you for my mistakes. Help me to reflect your love, peace and gentleness to those around me, so that they will see you as you really are. Amen.

TODAY: Spend some time reflecting on your own view of God, and how the behaviour of others have impacted your attitudes and belief systems about God in your particular life. Accept responsibility to do your part to discover who God really is, and not settle for anything less. If you need to ‘unlearn’ certain aspects, don’t be shy to reach out to a truly Godly person who could help you to achieve this. It’s worth it!

Copyright. 2002. Julie-Anne Wingate. All rights reserved.