My daughter Trevi will grow up to be the first female Billy Graham or a dictator of a small country. I’m convinced of this. She’s such a passionate and strong little person. When she was two years old she demanded the opportunity to choose her own clothes by pointing and screaming. She couldn’t talk, but she could accessorize.
When she was 4 years old, I asked her if she wanted to grow up to be the President of the United States. She responded: “Yes, I want to be on the dollar.” She’s ambitious and vain – perhaps she will grow up to be a politician.
When my son Caleb was baptized after deciding to follow Jesus, I asked Trevi if she too would like to follow Him. She was still 4 years old at the time. With obvious annoyance at my question, she responded: “I already told Jesus I would be His leader.”
Uh oh. That’s not what I was really going for.
Perhaps she confused her words as little kids often do or perhaps she was more honest than the rest of us. Too often, we want Jesus in our life but not actually guiding us. We want Him with us wherever we go, but not as our leader….
Jesus does not invite us to follow Him for what we can get, but He invites us to follow Him for what we can give!
Read the entire article here at Catalyst Monthly.
To listen to the interview I had for the Catalyst podcast, check out episode 46. I am interviewed after the interview of John Eldredge.
[…] Billy Graham, Dictators, and Jesus? […]
[…] Trevi seemed to indicate she follows Jesus now (which is better than last time in which she said: “I already told Jesus I would be His leader .”). I asked if she wanted to share this decision with her friends by being baptized. Caleb shouted […]
Great stuff Eric!
What great qoutes!
This reminds me of how much like a child I am – in both good and bad ways = huge dreams and selfish motives.
The new Billy Graham movie Billy: The Early Years hits on some of these topics talked about in this blog. Check it out at billytheearlyyears.com.