One of my greatest blessings is my family. I was raised in a Christian home with parents who loved me and loved God. My dad was a minister, so I never realized going to church was optional! As the oldest child I was a typical first-born “please-er” who determined to do everything right and make her parents proud.
But the summer I turned 12 the Lord began to work in my heart and reveal to me that even though I was a good girl, even though I came from a good family, even though I had a minister living in my house, I could never be good enough for Him. Oh I had no doubt that He loved me, but I also was beginning to understand a few of His attributes – holiness, faithfulness, perfection - and no matter how hard I tried, I was NEVER any of those things. I began to see what the Old Testament prophet Isaiah meant when he remarked that even our BEST efforts are like “filthy rags.” (Is 64:6).
That summer I came across a sentence that has stuck in my head since the day I read it: “Sitting in a church doesn’t make you a CHRISTIAN any more than sitting in a garage makes you a MECHANIC.” I had sat in church all of my life, but I began to realize that it wouldn’t get me into Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the Way… no one comes to the Father except through ME.” (John 14:4) Well, I knew ABOUT Jesus, but did I really KNOW Him? My parents did, my grandparents did, but did that “grandfather” me into God’s family? One night as I tossed and turned, afraid to go to sleep because I wasn’t sure of my relationship with God, the words of the familiar bedtime prayer played in my mind: “If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take...” If I should die… what if… what if I DIED? I didn’t KNOW what would happen to me!
Do YOU know? If you took your last breath TODAY do you KNOW where you would spend eternity? Maybe you’ve spent your life in church too, maybe you’re a good person, maybe you’ve gone to classes and been baptized… and don’t get me wrong, I love church and I love good people and I’m ALL FOR classes and baptism, but those things don’t impress God and they aren’t tickets into Heaven. The only thing that gets God’s attention is a humble heart and a broken spirit that accepts His Son Jesus as your Savior and Lord. The evidence of a relationship with Him will be a changed life and a peace that is amazing!
If you don’t KNOW what will happen to you when you die, you can settle it once and for all, right now. Consider praying this prayer:
“Heavenly Father, I KNOW I’m a sinner and I KNOW my sin has separated me from You. But I believe You love me so much that you sent Your Son Jesus to die for my sins so I can KNOW that I will spend eternity in Heaven with You. I ask You to forgive me for the things I've done and help me to change my mind and live my life for You. Thank you for Your perfect son Jesus Christ, and it’s in His name I pray, Amen.”
A prayer like that has changed countless lives. It changed mine and I KNOW it will change yours!
Rom 3:23; Rom 6:23; Rom 5:8; Rom 10:9; John 10:28-29; Phil 4:7, Eph 2:4-5,8-10, Is 66:1-2
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