I haven’t always been a child of God. I was raised by wonderful parents who were very active in a local, traditional church but my heart had not experienced the reality of spiritual regeneration. I can recall making a conscious decision to reject God’s call for me to follow Jesus because the pleasures of this world were too attractive to me. As I reflect on my life and the outcome of that choice I started spiraling downward in a path of depravity. It did not stop until I had to face the consequences and fruit of living my way instead of God’s way. When I finally believed the gospel of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and encountered his mercy and grace, I made a conscious decision to turn my life over to him. It was then that I began following him and I became a child of God. I made the awesome discovery that truth was more than an abstract idea or philosophical concept; the truth was personified in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he lives in me and through me as I surrender everything I am and have to him. By walking day by day and moment by moment with him, I experience the same peace and joy that his followers did two thousand years ago.
I thank you, Lord, for making the gospel real to me through your mercy and grace and adopting me as one of your children. I wasn’t worthy to be brought into your Kingdom of light, but through the cross of Jesus Christ, you made me worthy by not counting my sins against me. Hallelujah!