Author has written 8 stories for Phantom of the Opera, Wizard of Oz, C. S. Lewis, Little Women, and Bible. I became a Christian when I was nine years old. It wasn't as easy as it seemed. My Dad was the youth director and everyone, including myself, thought that I was already saved. But God told me I wasn't and the great argument began. I went through all the excuses. I'd prayed the prayer when I was five. Everyone thought I was saved and would be mad if they found out I was lying . . . what if God wasn't real and I died and found out that there was no God or that it wasn't the right one? So I put God to the test. (By the way, I don't encourage you to do this.) I asked during the invitation at church that if God was real he would send five people forward to pray - just so I'd know I wasn't mistaken. I opened my eyes and to my astonishment (and fright) there were five people speeding toward the front. Then I prayed that if I needed to get saved that three more people would go. And after a moment one, two, and then I sadly counted the third go up and knew I couldn't make any more excuses and shouldn't have tested God in the first place. Then I got scared. What if I died before the service was over? But I couldn't move my feet. They seemed to grow roots where I stood and I gripped the pew and prayed that God would keep me alive long enough to talk to my Dad after service. My Dad was busy with someone else and I found my Mom first. I asked how you know you're saved and she talked with me for a while before Dad came. He said you know several ways. Does God answer your prayers? Does his spirit talk to your spirit? Can you get away with doing something wrong? Do you like to be around other Christians? Mostly, is God telling you that you're not? By the time I said the prayer inviting God to come into my heart and asking him to forgive my sins, I was crying because I knew I wasn't saved and I knew that if I had died before I wouldn't have been in hell. But something happened. It literally felt like chains were broken from my shoulders and I was shocked and excited at this release from Satan's hold on me. You see, Satan had been tempting me, telling me that if I would serve him he would give me power. I knew he was evil. I knew it was wrong. But there was a piece of me that was intrigued with the idea. But here I was, serving the God of the entire world - the one who had created Satin and already defeated him when he rebelled. I don't always do what God wants me too - in fact, I probably don't more than I obey him. But I want to know what God will do with a life that is dedicated to him. I want to know what his plan for the world is and why he created me. Because I know that his plan is more exciting than any book, more perfect than any government, more powerful than any force and more full of love than any I'll find on earth. It isn't the easy path. He doesn't promise wealth, ease and happiness. He promises to be with us, to protect us, to care for us and guide us if we follow him. He promises us a path that he has created for us if we will take it. He promises us riches in heaven if we obey his commandments. There are so many others but mainly, he promises to keep us in his hand, to free us from Satan's grasp and sin and to take us to heaven to live with him instead of sending us to be punished in hell like we deserve. I know him. Do you?
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