Separating The Wheat From The Chaff

Finally the day came and Inga joined Brownies. She got a little brown skirt jumper and a little brown hat with a little brownie and she got little half socks with a little brownie on it. Her mother even bought her some brown shoes and she dressed up and went to her first meeting and it was just wonderful.

Well, much later when she and her mother and father and sister were coming to church, she asked her mother this question: "I heard about belonging to Jesus. How do I know that I belong to Jesus? We don't have a uniform like the Brownies. I know I belong to the Brownies because I have a uniform. How do I know that I belong to Jesus?"

Her mother replied, "Well, where do you go on Sunday morning?" Inga said, "I go to Sunday school to learn about Jesus."

Her mother continued, "What's that book in your hand?" Inga said, "It's the Bible and the Bible is the stories of Jesus."

And her mother said, “How else do you know that you belong to Jesus, Inga? What do we do always before we go to bed?” Inga replied, “We talk to Jesus every night before we got to sleep.” “And Inga, where do we go after Sunday school?” “We go to the big church.”” And what do we do in the big church? We learn about God and we sing about Jesus."

Then Inga got this big smile on her face and she said, "I belong to Jesus." And her mother said, "That's right."

When we come to the Lord’s Table to take part in Holy Communion, we know that we draw near to Jesus when we eat the bread and drink the wine. We, like Inga and her mother, also understand that Christ lives in us in a new way, and that we abide in Christ and he abides in us. The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are believers. As Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God”. Only then can we have the inner conviction and witness of the Holy Spirit that we are children of God.