can I not follow you right now

One of the sweet things turned five this week, and around this age, my belief is that faith can start to be taken seriously, and concepts like Communion can be explained to children in preparation for their first taste of that Grand Meal. The wondrous one wasn't sure if the sweet thing was ready. "Has he even accepted the Lord yet?" was her query. My counter was that there were plenty of clear signs of fruit and the work of the Spirit in his life, and that there is no sinner's prayer in the Word.

Modern evangelicals see the start of faith as an on/off switch -- that there must exist some clear and definite moment of asking. One doesn't just stumble into faith; it must be a conscious choice. I'm not so sure I agree with this reasoning.

My belief is that the reason so many take this position is because it provides them a future out should a person's life go a different direction. I can imagine someone passing away and his mother saying, "I know XXX spent the past few years troubled and running away from life, but I'm so glad that when he was six I was able to lead him through the sinner's prayer, so I know he's with Jesus right now."

Faith has always been to me a journey. And young ones can start that journey because their parents prodded them down that route, pointing toward that Savior walking in the distance and telling their little ones to keep following. That journey can begin without that young one stating to himself, "You know I really want to be going on this trip." They might find themselves on that journey for many years before realizing what a grand adventure it is, and where it's leading is where they want to be. And that walk of faith didn't begin at that moment of realization; their walking had been for some time.