JoJo’s Life-Changing Journey

Seven-year-old JoJo sat at the foot of her mom’s bed. “Momma, Can I ask you a question?

“What’s that, honey?”

“My teacher Sunday said I should ask Jesus into my heart. What does that mean? How does He get into my heart?”

JoJo’s mom began to explain to her the process of becoming a Christian and that Jesus coming into your heart wasn’t literal. JoJo listened intently.

“So all I have to do is ask?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Remember the verse we learned together in our family devotions? John 3:16 says God loves you so much He gave His son to die for you. His death was so you and I could be forgiven for your sins. The only way we can be forgiven of our sins is to ask Jesus to come in to our hearts. You have to tell God you are sorry for your sin and ask Him to forgive you.”

“But I don’t do really bad things. I try to do the right thing like you taught me.”

You are a great little girl. But everyone has sinned. We are born with sin in our hearts. That’s why we have to ask Jesus to make our hearts clean again. Let me get my Bible and show you something.”

“I’ll go get mine too.”

When Momma and JoJo returned to their seats on the bed, Momma said, “See if you can find Romans 3:23. See what that says? It says ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ That means we are all sinners—everyone. And to fall short means we cannot have God’s glory because of our sin. But Jesus came to die for us so we could be forgiven of our sin and receive God’s glory.”

“I want that right now. Will you help me?”

“Of course.”

JoJo and her mom shared a very special moment as JoJo prayed to become a Christian.

This message is for all of us, not just JoJo. Romans 3:22 (NIV) reminds us, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile.” We may look different on the outside, but on the inside, we are just the same. God gave us the same capacity to love. And He wants us to put Him first on the list.

JoJo’s seven-year-old world is fairly small at the moment. But soon it will include more diversity and a wider scope of culture exposure. Hopefully, she will reach out to her friends and say, “Can I tell you about the conversation I had with my mom when I was seven? It will change your life!”

Copyright © June 2019 Linda J. Gilden, used with permission.