Will You Marry Me?
Four words, that I would imagine, people who get married will never forget are: Will you marry me?
I was on Facebook the other day when someone had posted their proposal story video. Actually, Mike Howerton from Overlake Church was tagged, so I thought it was his engagement story, but I guess it was a friend of his. Regardless, I watched it and started to think to myself:
If people can recount their engagement so vividly, why is it so hard for people to tell their story of how they came to know Christ?
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I've really been struggling with this question because as a Christian, as someone who has met God and is experiencing His love, I know when He became not so much an idea or a belief, but my personal Lord and Savior. I don't know the exact date, I don't know the exact time, but I know when, where, what circumstances, and how that moment unfolded for me.
People always tell me there wasn't an exact moment in their life when Christ "came into their heart" (that's Christianese for when someone moves from mere knowledge of the existence of God to agreeing with God that He truly is God).
I don't get that.
I don't get how people have "always been a Christian" since they grew up in church or because "my parents were Christian."
I can understand how there are moments that may have led up to a definitive moment where your life with God crosses over that line from unforgiven to forgiven, unjustified to justified, unredeemed and redeemed--but there's a moment nonetheless. I mean, coming to know God as your personal Lord and Savior has to be a momentous occasion. It may not be as dramatic, but there's a dramatic change that occurs in your life. I'm not saying your testimony should be a script for Lifetime, but there's a story nonetheless.
The Bible even describes that when we come to know Christ, that if anyone is in Christ the old has gone and the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). The Bible also goes on to say that we have died to ourselves and now have new life (Rom. 6:4). We don't forget our birthdays, do we? Then how is it that you forget the moment you are born again in faith?
I don't remember the date, but I know it was a Friday night at a youth group service in 1996 at the old senior center in Redmond. People were worshiping, raising their hands, and I wondered to myself, "What am I missing out on? Whatever this is, God, I need some of that in my life!"
Though I had always attended church, I know that moment marked a new chapter in my life that has been written with one sole audience in mind ever since.
So what if you don't remember? What if you can't recount when you acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
- Look around - Maybe you were really young and can't come up with some details. But I would ask those who are close to you (family, friends, etc.) whether or not your life is marked by the love of God.
- Look back - As you think back, maybe inquire of others to help piece your story together, in retrospect you may be able to see the fingerprints of God all over your life!
- Look deep - Has God just been an idea, safety net, or personal genie to you? Is your first priority to know God and to love Him with all of your heart, mind, soul and checkbook? Seriously, are you living for Him or has going to church just been your excuse to sit on the fence?
I think it's completely ok to question where you stand with God. However, as always, I admonish you, wherever you stand, that if you were reject or oppose Him that you would first figure out what you were passing up.
