We’ve been letting the kids pick our songs for family devotions this week. Six-year-old Colin loves “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Little C frequently chooses “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins. And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.”
One morning as we were singing these surprisingly upbeat songs, one of the boys started retching. He was imagining an actual fountain, like the one downtown on the square, filled to overflowing with blood. As he thought about swimming in that giant fountain of blood, it made him feel sick.
My first reaction was to chastise him for being disrespectful during worship and to tell him not to think about it so literally. My husband had a different response. He encouraged the children to reflect on Jesus’ death, and to remember that His blood was spilled to pay for every sin that they commit. That fountain of blood was drawn from Jesus’ veins to purchase their salvation, but it is only effectual for them if they are washed in it.
So often we try to gloss over the gruesome events of Jesus’ death with our children, focusing only on the Resurrection. We do it to “protect” them.
Those who came before us in the faith were not so squeamish. They rightly understood that without the shedding of Christ’s blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22
About Molly Evert
Writer Molly Evert is a wife and homeschooling mom to 6 kids, who range in age from 2 to 18. She runs an educational website, My Audio School (http://www.myaudioschool.com), providing access to the best in children's audio literature. She also blogs at CounterCultural Mom (http://www.counterculturalmom.com) and CounterCultural School (http://www.counterculturalschool.com).
- Web |
- More Posts(146)
