Jessica is such a good little mother. When I first met her she was sitting with a group of young girls at a table. She had her doll Lisa sitting on her lap. All the girls were eating their dinner, and Jessica was offering spoonfuls of peas and potatoes to her doll and smiling happily at her as she “ate” each bite. Then Jessica would pop the food quickly into her own mouth and tell her doll what a good baby she was for eating so well.
The doll used to belong to Jessica’s mother, so Lisa the doll is really thirty years old. “I like to pretend that she’s just going to have her first birthday,” Jessica told me.
“How many children are in your family?” I asked.
“Five,” Jessica answered. “Six, if you count Lisa.”
Of course, even Jessica knows that Lisa is only a doll. It’s not hard to tell the difference between a real person and a doll. But sometimes it’s hard to tell which children are real Christians and which are just pretending they are Christians.
Are you a real Christian or are you pretending? Before you can really be a Christian, you must be born into God’s family. Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9) tells us that if we will confess with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. That’s how we are born into God’s family. God gives us a pure, clean, new life just like the life the Lord Jesus has that cannot sin. We still have our old life too that can do nothing but sin, but Romans 6:1111Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:11) tells us we should look at ourselves as dead to sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
After lunch Jessica gave Lisa a sponge bath and a diaper change and put her down for a nap, just as if she were a real baby. When you are a little girl, it’s really fun to play with a doll you love. Children can learn many things from playing “let’s pretend.” But we must never just pretend we are Christians. We need to be very sure that’s what we are, because if we should die without having that new life, the Bible says, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of [new] life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)). How awful! But there is no need for anyone to go there! The Lord Jesus died for the sins of anyone who will believe in Him. Just tell Him in prayer that you are a sinner and are sorry for your sins. He will forgive them all and give you that new life and write your name down in His book. Jesus promises, “Him [anyone] that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out [turn away]” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)).
Do you have that new life?
ML-09/19/2004