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Born Again Birthday...
Every year, we all have a birthday, whether we want to or not :-) For me, that day falls in May, but there is a day that holds even greater celebration for me. On March 3, 2001 I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior so I like to refer to that date as my “born again” birthday…
While growing up, my family attended church most every Sunday, I went to Sunday school, when I was in 7th and 8th grade I went thru confirmation classes, and was confirmed… during most of my adult life I attended church most Sundays, I sang in the choirs, I took communion… I was a good person, I did good things… If you would have asked me if I was going to go to heaven I would have said, well, I hope so, I’m a good person, I think I’m going to heaven… If you would have asked me what the Bible was, I would have said it’s a good book, with good stories in it, but you can’t take it literally…. But the truth is, I just didn’t get it…
It was Friday January 19, 2001, a friend of mine had been trying for a few weeks to get me to read some books based on the Bible… now I remember that date because it is my daughters birthday, she was going to spend the weekend at her mothers so after I dropped her off I went and I bought that book… I read the entire book that weekend and then several other books over the next few weeks, and during that process I started reading the book behind the books, the Bible… and I realized that this isn’t just a book of good stories, but the 100% true, inspired word of God!
Now, that 1st weekend of March of 2001 I was in St. Louis Mo. My oldest son, who was a senior at Coe College and on the baseball team at that time, was playing there in a beginning of the season tournament… After watching the games that Saturday I was in my motel room that night… I was reading a study guide on the book of Revelation that I had started reading a week or two before… at the end of every few chapters it would ask if you had accepted Jesus as your personal savior and if not then why not now… I would think, hmmmm, that sounds like a good thing, I should do that someday, but I’m not ready for that now, and I would go on to the next chapter… but as I got to the end of a chapter that night, with tears in my eyes I could hardly read the words on the page… I knelt down next to my bed, and I gave my life to Jesus, I asked him into my heart and to be my savior… The tears that night were tears of joy but also tears of shame, as I was ashamed that it took me so long to realize the truth, that being a Christian is not about being a good person and doing good things… but being a Christian is about having a relationship with God… and I am so glad that we have a patient God that would wait over 45 years for me to make that decision… Now I in no way pretend to say that I no longer struggle with temptations and yes, I admit to fail God in some way every day that I live… but I do strive to be obedient to the God who created all that is, knowing that he has and will forgive me when I come to him and ask for his forgiveness when I fail, through his son and my savior, Jesus Christ…
So I ask you, if you have not made the decision to accept Jesus as your personal savior why not, and why not now…? who or what has God put into your life to help you open your eyes and understand the truth our God puts before us in his word…? it is never too late to have a birthday that really matters.
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