Heart

When you're little, things are way simple. No bills to pay (electricity was like magic), no suppers to cook (food just appeared on the table... all we had to do was help set plates and silverware!), no grocery list to tackle (I'll always think fondly of the day we ate peanut butter and jelly on saltine crackers because we were out of bread... it was a treat!). And as a 5-year-old, when I asked Jesus to live in my heart, that's where He was, in my heart-shaped heart. Always with me, protecting me and my family. 

Now as an adult, things aren't always so simple. A few years back, I was asked how I would talk to a child about being a Christian. So I shared how it was taught to me when I was little. It was apparently not the right answer. "A child would not know what it means to have Jesus in their heart. They would not understand how He could fit there." I remember looking at this person thinking, how sad. They proceeded to explain how I should go about it, using words I would need a dictionary to make sense of. I walked away from that conversation shaking my head, hoping this person would not run into an unsaved child. Their little eyes would glass over, and then they'd probably interrupt by asking why the sky is blue, and where the Easter bunny lives. 

As I've gotten older, I still like to think of Jesus in my heart, although my heart is no longer in a heart-shape. I envision Him in my soul, speaking through my conscience, and in gentle whispers in my heart. He is still always with me, my Protector for me and my family. One of my favorite hymns I sang as a child (and still love today) called "He Lives" puts it best:

"You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart." 

Amen.

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  Romans 5:5