God and Love: From the Lips of a Seven-Year-Old

On our way home the other night, I was having a great conversation with my son about God. I told him that there was nothing he could ever do that would cause God to love him any less fully than he does now. To help convey the point, I told him that even if he were to kill me, his dad—(twisted, I know)—that God would still fully love him. He thought about it and replied, “Even if I blew up the whole world, would God still love me?”

Don’t you just love 1st graders? How would you reply?

Here is how I replied. I told him (borrowing from Paul) yes, even if he blew up the whole world (good luck with that), even that would not separate him from the love God has for him. I then said, “And when you stand before God and realize that God really loves you, you will most likely fall to your knees (I know I would), in tears possibly, sorry for what you had done and he would embrace you as his child, whom he loves.” I realized that, yes, even God’s kindness can lead to repentance.

Later, I thought more about my answer and—recalling a certain parable—wondered if God would even run to Caleb while Caleb was still far away and hug Caleb and not stop kissing Caleb.

Now what “consequences” God might have in mind for my son who blew up the entire world—well, that’s between him and God, and is, quite frankly, none of my business. I’ll leave that to God’s loving wisdom.