Article - Jacob and the Hobbit by Jamie Doyle

By Jamie Doyle

I looked across the coffee table at the little face that was full of frustration. I had never had a concern brought to me like this from a child before. I don't think I've ever had this concern brought up by an adult. I'm sure Jacob sat across from me and saw a face full of dumbstruck.

The six-year-old had an appointment made by his mother to see me. She told me Sunday that she didn't know how to answer his questions about Salvation. I figured, "No problem… He's a kid. I'm a pastor. I can handle any question." Then I sat there without any idea how to answer.

The concern: Jacob was troubled because the year before he had accepted Jesus into his heart as his Lord.

"I really felt like He was in there," he said as he pointed to his chest. "But lately, I don't feel like he's there anymore. I pray everyday and ask Him to do something in there so I can feel Him again." There seemed to be a silence the in the room that was loud. I shifted my weight in the chair and tried to explain it away to a six-year-old. But I felt like a fool. His little face was still filled with frustration and I was still uncomfortable. Somewhere in the middle of my shifting my weight and trying to explain it all away, I slipped my hand into my pocket to straighten it. As I straightened the pocket, it happened - my fingertips brushed against the dollar bill in my pocket.

I looked right into Jacob's eyes and asked him, "Do you know what I have in my pocket?" The atmosphere of the room turned from frustration to curiosity. Even Jacob's mother looked at me strangely. I felt like I was in the story of "The Hobbit". I pulled the dollar out of my pocket to display it. "You know this morning when I put this dollar in my pocket, I could feel it in there. I knew it was there. But now that it's in the afternoon, I have gotten used to feeling it there." By this point both Jacob and his mother were a little intrigued.

"Just because I've gotten used to feeling it there and I really don't notice it there anymore doesn't mean it's left me - has it?" I could tell the little guy was putting it all together in his head. I explained, "When I first asked Jesus to come into my heart, I knew He was there because I could feel him too. After a while I got used to Him being there. But that doesn't mean that He's left me." Jacob's little face could hardly contain the changed expression. His face lit up and I knew that he was "getting it". I took a sigh of relief and felt a little more confident as a counselor.

As I talked a little bit more to Jacob in detail about salvation and being faithful I stopped in mid-sentence. He had become frozen with wide eyes. He looked up at me with his jaw dropping. What happened next is an instance in which I will never forget. His hand reached into his pocket and began shuffling around. When his little hand made its appearance again it was clenching a dollar bill.

In almost a whisper he exclaimed, "This morning, I put a dollar in my pocket too!"

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