 I grew up being taught the Bible and going to church every Sunday. I was confirmed but gradually as I got older I stopped going to church with any regularity. Over time other pursuits were more important in my life and church became a waste of my time.
After high school I attended UW-Stout and roomed with a friend from Durand. During the first two years we had many conversations over truth and Christianity, but it never went very far. However, during my junior year I was confronted with the fact that the faith in Jesus Christ which he spoke of was not something I had. In fact according to the Bible I was not a Christian at all. I was merely a young man with a religious background that on occasion went to church.
Faced with that truth I began to seek out what the Bible actually defined as a believer, and whether I believed what it said or not. Over the next few months I started attending the Gospel Center for Bible study on Tuesday nights and reading God’s Word. During that time I found the teaching and preaching of the Word of God offensive as it convicted me of my great sin, yet I was continually drawn back.
One Friday night after school I came home for the weekend and found my mom’s Bible on the end table. Again feeling great conviction I began to read and find some consolation. As I read John 14:6 I found the answer my heart was seeking. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” At that point I knew the true way of salvation. It was true that Christ was the Son of God, He bore the weight of my sin the cross, and through faith in His shed blood I could be saved. There was no other “way.” The following Tuesday night I came to the Lord with a repentant heart and trusted in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
I wholly believe before that day that I was a sinner, against God, and most certainly going to a very real place called Hell (Rev. 20:11-15). I also wholly believe that since that day I have been saved by God’s grace and upon my death will go to another real place called Heaven (Acts 2:21).
|