Give God Your YesSample

When I was six years old, our small church had a revival. On a warm March Sunday night, I acted by faith in what I heard, and I became God’s child forever.

Although I don’t remember much about starting my new life in Christ, I know I was grateful for His dying for me. I also thought it was now up to me to pay Him back by being the best Christian I could be. Every time we had a revival, I rededicated my life to Christ. My purpose was to please God and to “be good.”

Through heartache and disappointment, I came to the end of myself and my effort to live the Christian life. I was twenty years old when I understood I could not be what I wanted to be. I found my heart attitudes were still a problem, and I was helpless to do anything about them. I told the Lord in disappointment and frustration that I could not live the Christian life and that if this was the abundant life, I didn’t want it. The Lord began to teach me that He never said I could live the Christian life. By studying His Word, I began to understand that He is the only one who can live the Christian life, and He will live it through me if I only yield to His control.

That was the best news I had ever heard. I did yield! My life has never been the same. He has done more than I could ever have dreamed of or hoped. His love is from everlasting to everlasting—what a Savior! Not only did He live a perfect life for me and then die on the cross for me, but He also continues to live His life through me. In return, I get to experience truly abundant life, as John 10:10 (AMPC) says: “The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).”