“I don’t know what the future holds… but I know Who holds the future!”
This is My Story of what God has done in my life, and what he can do in yours!
Every good story has a Beginning, Middle and End. The Beginning for all of us, is the same, from God’s perspective. We are all separated from him by the wrong that we have done – the Bible calls this Sin. And I was no different. I was brought up knowing about God, but not actually knowing him. Then at the age of 18, (just before going away to University), a Christian couple in the church I attended challenged me to really decide what I believed in. The question was this: “Do you only believe about Jesus, or have you actually put your trust 100% in him and what he has done for you?” Well, to a “good Christian boy” who had gone to church since birth, this question seemed rather offensive. However, knowing the people who asked the question and the love they had shown me over the years, I went away to grapple with what they had said. The Bible makes it clear that belief in God is not, first and foremost, an intellectual thing; it is based on faith in the Lord Jesus. The next two weeks were to shape the rest of my life. I went to a meeting where someone was talking about Jesus and how his death on a cross was to pay the price for the sin of all mankind, past, present and future. At the end of the meeting, the preacher invited anyone who wanted to talk further to come to the front. I was greeted by a young man who, after listening to me for a while, offered to pray with me. I said I wanted to really know the truth for myself, not just what I had been brought up with. He said a simple prayer and then waited silently. What happened next was truly from God… He said that God had given him a picture in his mind (some might use the term vision): Jesus was walking along a path and I was too, but I was following some steps behind him. However, Jesus was inviting me to walk beside him, actually with him. What a thought, that Jesus who is the Saviour of the world wanted me to walk with him. But still, an invitation remains only an invitation, unless you accept it. And it was shortly after this that I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life. And that was the Beginning for me!
The Middle of the story is what you do once you become a Christian. I am now 44 years old and married, with four children. I can honestly say that there has not been a day when I have regretted becoming a genuine bible-believing Christian. Knowing that God is your Heavenly Father and that your sins are forgiven is worth more than all the wealth in the world!
It is an exciting journey, walking with Jesus! Will you come along too?
So if the Beginning of the story is the same for all of us, (separated from God because of sin), is the End the same too? Well, there are only two possible endings:
A Happy Ending
Eternal life, spent with God and all those who have put their trust in Jesus. No more pain, no more suffering, no more fear, no more sin. Things restored to how God intended them to be before mankind turned its back on God. Perfection, love, joy, peace, happiness… and seeing God face-to-face!
An Unhappy Ending
God has made it clear what will happen if someone does not decide to follow him. These days it is not very popular (or ‘PC’) to suggest that God will actually punish sin. But God will not allow us to get away with rejecting him forever. A day will come when all people will have to stand before Jesus and it is he that will decide our eternal destination. If we have rejected him in the days given to us in this life, he will reject us and we will be sent to Hell. The impression of what Hell will be like has been so distorted by television, artists, authors and cartoonists that many people either think it does not exist, or that it is not as bad as the Bible makes out. Do not be fooled; God has warned mankind of the absolute horror of eternal punishment. Contrast that, however, with the absolute joy of heaven!
So what should I do? If you choose to accept what Jesus did for you, then you can regain the personal relationship with God that he intended you to have. And when you die you will enjoy eternal life. If this is something you want, then you can take that step today.
Want to know more about Jesus? Who he is and what he did for you? Let me tell you more.
My prayer for you is that you will find out for yourself the joy of knowing God, personally, and have a relationship with him that is more fulfilling than anything you have ever experienced!