Focal Passages: John
14:15-18, 27-31a; 15:11-16
I lived my first nineteen
years without Christ. Knowing that Christmas and Easter celebrated His birth
and resurrection, I saw no connection between those events and my life and
eternal destiny.
I knew God as Creator, not
as Savior and Lord. I knew nothing of the peace He promised in John 14:27, or
His joy recorded in 15:11, and never dreamed He had a purpose for my life
(15:16).
During those years, no
pastor or friend shared with me that a
man named Jesus left heaven to die and pay the penalty for my sins. I
was unaware that I was a sinner at all, as I had never been to jail.
Any Christian in pulpit or
pew could have drawn me into the kingdom of God, but no one came.
When I left for college, my
spiritual biography could have been written in one sentence: I was good, but I
was lost. One night my dorm mother sent a message by me to a girl upstairs.
Seeing her door ajar, I
pushed it open to view something I had never seen before: A girl was on her
knees talking out loud to God. I backed into the hall as if frozen in space.
When she finished praying, I delivered the message and returned to my room. But
I returned a different person. I had pushed open more than the door to her
room; I had opened the door to the throne room of God, and I would never be the
same again.
I desired the relationship
she had with God, but knew nothing about inviting Christ into my life.
Neither did I understand the
source of my restlessness: God’s Spirit was wooing me. Finally I decided to
talk to God as she had done. I said, “Lord, I don’t know what I’m asking, so I
don’t know how to ask, but whatever you did in that girl’s life, will you do in
my life now?”
If you’d been present, you
might have said, “I didn’t see anything happen.” Neither did I. The earth
didn’t shake and bells didn’t ring. Only one thing occurred: Jesus kept His
promise when He said, “Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him . . .” (Rev. 3:20).
Life is better when lived in
relationship with Jesus because He gives us His presence, peace, and purpose.