Three Oranges: God's Will for Everyoneনমুনা

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My testimony

The summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school, I worked at a supermarket, sacking groceries. There was a checker there, that I thought was cute. She was a Christian.

One night, she went to a concert, and something compelled her to share Christ with me on the phone. I realized as I listened to her that I was headed for hell. I started crying on the phone. Later that week we went to her youth minister’s house, and he explained how to have a relationship with Christ. I told him that if I did that—trust Christ for my salvation—I would lose all my friends. Regardless, I knew I needed Christ in my life, so I bowed my head and prayed something like this: “Lord, I know I have sinned many times. I trust your death on the cross to be the payment for my sin. I ask You to forgive my sins and wash me clean.” (If you have never taken that step, I encourage you to pray those words from your heart right now.) In Romans 10, Paul says: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”.

That night my life was changed for eternity, but it took some time for my lifestyle to catch up with my new heart.

Finally, I went with a group from my girlfriend’s church to a high school retreat and got it straightened out for good. I remember I was crying as I watched my friends walk down the aisle. For a long time, I thought that “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” was just a camp song. That week I learned it was a choice.

God initiated a relationship with me during those years based on His love, and not my performance. That was the beginning step for me in knowing His will for my life.

Relationship is the bedrock of all that follows of God’s will. What is your relationship with God like? Have you trusted Christ for forgiveness and become a child of God? I’m not asking if you mentally assent that Jesus is the Son of God. I am asking if you have trusted Him as your savior, and if you’ve depended upon Him alone to reconcile you with God. If not, why wait?