Yesterday I posted this on my other blog; grandma's cookie jar, so I thought I'd share it with you today. Do you know why the percentage, 43% matters? It truly matters, because according to the Barna Group, 43% of people make the decision to receive God's gift of grace and forgiveness by placing their trust in Jesus before the age of 13. Yes, before the age of 13.
This "statistic" matters and it shows how grandparents know something parents often do not. This is the truth about how very, very quickly our sweet, little grandchildren are growing up. We remember how fast our children grew up. It may not have felt like it at the time . . . the day-in-day-out work of raising children can make it seem like it is moving along so very slowly . . . will they ever be potty-trained???!!!
Yes, raising children can seem like it takes forever, but the truth is, it really flies by. Children grow up so quickly, and if 43% of them make the decision to love and follow Jesus before the age of 13, we have just a very few short years to influence them, teach them; to pass on a heritage of faith.
It is true, there are teens and adults who choose to love and follow Jesus and accept God's gift of grace and forgiveness, but they often end up experiencing the scars of poor decisions, too. If we can influence and teach our grandchildren before they are 13, before the have those scars which come from making poor decisions, then why wouldn't we?
I wear a necklace with a photo of my grandsons and a small silver hour glass. They remind me the time is short. They remind me to pray. They remind me to share Jesus. They remind me to pass on a heritage of faith.
It is true, "time flies", and it is true our grandchildren are only little for a few short years. It is also true it matters what we say and do in the time we have with our grandchildren. The most important thing we can do as grandparents is to redeem this time! To focus on passing on a heritage of faith!
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