13515 days including 10 extra days for leap years = 37 years today!!!
That’s how long ago it was that I made a choice to follow Christ! Tuesday 17th July 1979 stands out in my life as a changing point. I was not raised in a Christian family. My Dad could be described at eccentric while my Mom was sweet and kind and lovely, she wasn’t a church goer. My Dad had a number of beliefs – in time, one of them included believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One thing he did do was pray for his family, me included and we have all benefited from those prayers.
It was an ordinary day, that Tuesday. I’m not sure what I did in it. I just know that my thoughts were taken up with a problem I had encountered the Friday before. I had been to a youth group and had been asked directly if I was ready to die. I thought it was a stupid question. Which 14 year old is ‘ready to die?’ But I was in an awkward situation because I was in a small group of 5 people. The guy who was asking, I had a bit of a crush on, so I didn’t want to give the wrong answer here! I decided to go with the ‘right’ answer and say ‘yes, I was ready to die.’ That was what they wanted to hear. Dave, the dishy leader, looked at me closely for a moment or two and then nodded and said, ‘that’s good.’ It was the right answer, but it wasn’t the right answer for me. It was a lie. I knew what they meant by asking if I was ready to die. I knew that by taking a step of faith and asking God to take over your life, you leap from uncertainty about your eternal future to a glorious knowledge that life will not end with your final breath.
That was my dilemma. I had lied. I knew I wasn’t ready to die. Now what was I to do? I had a couple of options. I could phone Dishy Dave and tell him I had lied. Being a chess player, I always looked at the next move. I imagined us chatting. I would have one on one time with him 😉 But then I would have to admit my dishonesty and that would be humiliating. No! I couldn’t phone Dave. I could just bury the whole thing ‘under the carpet.’ Forget about it. Push it to the back of my mind. No, I couldn’t do that either. It was going to come back. The only thing I could do was to make good on my lie. To make my lie, the truth. To give my heart to Jesus Christ. To ask Him to forgive me and take over my young life. To invite Him in. All the things I’d heard about to do. THAT was what I would do. So, in the quietness of my bedroom on the evening of 17th July 1979, I did just that!
What a relief!! My lie was now truth! I was ready to die! I didn’t want to die, but I knew I was ready! And I have been ready ever since… 13515 days of readiness!
Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
I started to read the Bible – but didn’t have a proper one, so I read my Gideon’s New Testament. Then one day, I opened the drawer of my Dad’s desk and there to my surprise, still in its wrapping was a brand new Bible. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I went to my Dad and asked him if he knew about it. “Yes,” he said. “I bought that Bible for the first of my children who would come to know the Lord.” He continued, “And I think that’s you.” I smiled shyly and said yes. The Bible was mine! I still have it, beaten, battered and well used, it is not the Bible I use today, but it remains as precious as the day I got it. When I look through it, it brings back many happy memories.
Good memories.
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂