Before I share some "faithnotes" with the intent of encouraging the reading audience to receive Christ by faith and display their faith in the arena of life, I thought that it would be best for me to share my faith story. There are some memories from my childhood as it relates to faith that remain in my mind to this day. I remember having a big Bible storybook decked out with illustrated pages communicating the stories of the Bible in a manner that was easy to understand. I remember attending a VBS and playing with small toy animals and a my size version of Noah's ark, and although my family did not "regularly" attend church then I even remember some of the stories I heard at Sunday School.
Obviously all of those things were intended to promote faith in Christ. However, there is one thing that I remember well that left a mark on my mind that I will never forget. I was twelve years old and sitting in the living room at the house of one of my friend's grandmother, and I overheard a conversation between his grandmother and older cousin. The conversation was about faith. They were discussing an encounter with an acquaintance who believed that through works and trying to be a "good" person one could achieve salvation and earn the reward of an afterlife in heaven, which sounded right to me. Then I overheard the phrase: "Only by faith in Christ can someone experience salvation and eternal life in heaven with God." I was shocked and maybe even a little confused. Those were a lot of heady, religious words for me to attempt to digest at that juncture in my life, and I didn't say a word to anyone that day regarding the conversation I had overheard.
It was a year later and my mother decided that we needed to go to church. At thirteen I was not thrilled about this new Sunday activity, but obviously didn't have a choice. I remember walking into a small, but packed typical little white sanctuary on the side of the road on a cool, sunny May morning. An older gentleman invited me to sit next to him in one of the few remaining seats. That morning a visiting band was there to lead worship, and when they had finished their last song the lead singer shared the same thing I had heard a year earlier in that living room. This time I responded. I walked to the front, knelt down, and began to pray. I prayed, "God, I don't know very much about You or the Bible, but I know that I've sinned and need to be forgiven and receive Christ by faith as my Savior."
I was remade into a new person through receiving Christ by faith that day. In the moments and days following, I gained deeper understanding of the love of Christ that was demonstrated by His willingness to give His life on the cross for the sins of the world, and that He rose from the dead to give life to those who would receive Him. The deeper my understanding the greater my gratitude as I recognized that I should have had to pay for my sins and mistakes, but the blood of Christ covered me when I received Him. I marveled at this truth then, and remain in an awe of it to this day.
My hope today is that people will come to understand the truth of Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." God loves people and wants each one to come to Him by faith, which is the only way. You don't have to work tirelessly trying to earn salvation or an approval slip granting you entry into an eternal relationship with God. Just come to Him, and He will change your life. For those of you who know this to be true because you have experienced the transforming power of Christ, there are likely some people in your life who were just like me sitting in that living room not knowing the grace of God and the necessity of faith in Christ. Identify them, Share with them, Disciple them, and help them live out their own faith story.
