Becoming a Christian

There are moments in life where you have to make life changing decisions. These decisions affect your life majorly and make you who you are. I thought I had already made a life changing decision, but on August 13, 2007 God rocked my world and made something clear.

Most people, especially in the south, claim to be a Christian. But does this mean they are? No becoming a Christian is something that goes on between you and God; you don't come into this world as a Christian. In the fourth grade I thought I had made the transition of allowing God to come in my heart. Over the years I struggled with knowing if I had accepted Christ or not. Every time I heard someone speak on becoming a Christian or if they knew or not, I would get a weird feeling. It was something that has gradually been bothering me more and more. On August 13, 2007 the day started out like a normal Sunday. I got up around 7:30 and started getting nervous. I noticed that my stomach felt like it was in a knot and I was nervous, but I didn’t have a clue why. When I got to Newspring the knotting and nervousness of my stomach got stronger and during the songs I felt like I couldn’t concentrate. Perry came out and said he was only going to preach on three verses. The verses were Mathew 7:21-23 and it says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away form you evildoers!” Perry plainly asked us if we had nailed it down. Do we know for sure if we asked God to come in our lives? This hit me hard. I finally realized that I had no clue what I was doing when I was in the fourth grade. I think I saw everyone around me getting saved and baptized and I didn’t want to be different, so I “accepted” Christ not having a clue what I was doing. Over the years though I did read my bible and I have felt that I have helped people with there walk with Christ. I was following the Christian ways but I did not have the one on one connection with God. Sitting on the third row of the auditorium I felt like I needed to stand up and ask God to come in my heart but I was too proud. I was scared of what my piers would think who already viewed me as a Christian. Would they shun me or stop coming to me for advice. I was also nervous about what the church would think since I was a volunteer and you had to be a Christian to volunteer. I ended up not doing it, and before I left I remembered Perry saying, “If you were suppose to stand up and you didn’t I hope God keeps you restless until you do.”

This stuck in my head all day. I couldn’t erase it from my thoughts. I went through the day wrestling with this and then it was time to go back to church to volunteer. Before the service began I ran into one of my good friends and he informed me that he had to come back and stand up. JBrew was the final straw, it seemed to just make since when he told me this. I finally had enough courage to stand up and not worry about what people would think because I was nailing it down and that was much more important. I called my mother and explained to her the steps that lead up to this moment and she told me that she would come sit with me. The time came for the 6:00 service, and I was shaking with excitement. This time during worship I became more focused than ever. One of the songs that the band sang was “Amazing Grace” and the words of the song hit me hard. God’s amazing grace saved me, I once was lost but now I was found. I couldn’t stop smiling. Heart pounding, I was so pumped and excited about what was about to happen. This time when Perry asked people to stand up and ask Jesus into there heart I jumped to my feet. Shaking mildly, I lost all control of my emotions and cried like a baby. I finally new! I was going to spend eternity in heaven and I had finally actually become a Christian. Jesus died on the cross for me and I was ready to share that with everyone. It was like all my fears of what people would think were erased.

I will never forget the feelings I had on this day. It is definitely the best day of my life and the biggest life changing experience I will go through.