Kim: Jesus is Lord

As Mike and I handed out red construction paper to our kids in the first through third grade Sunday school class, excited voices piped up from around the room asking about what we were going to do. (How they love to make crafts!) We instructed them about how to cut a heart out of their paper, and they set about with little brows furrowed with determination. A few of them pleaded for another piece of paper. Despite our assurances that their hearts were beautiful (okay, Mike used the word “great”), they persisted, saying that their hearts were not big enough. We gave in as we exchanged amused glances over their heads.

When their heart specifications met their approval, we moved on to the next step. After each of them had a crayon in hand, we asked them what kinds of questions their friends might want to ask them about Jesus. Hands and innocent questions filled the air. “How tall was Jesus? What did He look like?” For each question, they drew a question mark on their hearts. Soon, their hearts were full of question marks, some scattered about, others drawn in a nice and tidy row. Next we taped springs onto the middle of their hearts, made of white strips of paper folded accordion-style. Then a graphic declaring, JESUS IS LORD!, was glued to the end of each spring.

As I knelt beside their desks helping them put the pieces together, I looked down at the handmade hearts in their little hands, filled with such childlike questions. Tears filled my eyes and I swallowed hard at the knowledge that one distant day complicated questions, painful questions would fill their hearts. When that day came they needed to know Who to turn to. I put a smile on my face and made my way to the front of the class and asked them to look at their hearts. Then I told them, “One day your friends are going to ask you questions. When they do I want you to think of these hearts. Even if your heart is filled with questions you don’t have answers to, remember that it's okay because you have Jesus in your heart. Jesus is Lord, and He knows all the answers.”

In the land of grownups, may this encourage your heart today.

“...For God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” ~1John 3:20b