"Mom, He died?"

A few weeks ago I was in my bathroom putting my makeup on when my four year old daughter came into the room.  She said to me, "Mom, He died? Why did He have to die?"  I was a little confused at first and asked her, "Who died sweetie?"  She said, "Jesus."   For whatever reason, that morning it hit her.  He died.  She was sad, really sad, and there were tears in her eyes as she looked to me with one of the most important questions swimming in her mind.  "Why did Jesus have to die?" 

Wow.  I was taken aback.  When was the last time it really hit me that He died for me?  When was the last time that I felt the weight of the sacrafice that He made for my salvation.  I honestly don't think about it enough.  My daughter has proclaimed love for Jesus since she was three but it wasn't until that morning when the two of us sat on the floor of my bathroom and talked that she finally understood WHY we love Jesus.  We love Him because He first loved us.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:6-8

Jesus was not born to live on that night in Bethlehem, he had a greater purpose... He was born to die.  For you.  For me.  For every person alive then and now.  He died for us.  He gave his life so that we might be saved from a life without Him. 

My four year old is only beginning to understand the depth of her question, but I am so thankful for her reminder.