When I was a kid, I remember having a discussion with my twin brother about Heaven. We ended up coming to the conclusion that most people would go to Heaven, as long as they didn't do anything really bad, like killing someone. We didn't have any evidence for this view, other than the fact that it "seemed logical".
Unfortunately for some people, their entire spiritual experience seems to be based on what sounds right to them. Fortunately for me (and my brother too), I discovered that I didn't have to figure out the meaning of life on my own. I found out that God had revealed his divine plan to us through the Bible.
I started going to church with my family (not because I was really interested in spiritual matters at the time, but more because I couldn't get out of it). I started to learn that getting into Heaven wasn't quite as simple as "not killing someone". I was already guilty before God even if I had sinned just once, because the Bible says that the penalty of sin is death.
Fortunately, I also learned that God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to die for my sins, and all I needed to do was accept that gift and repent of my sins, and I would get eternal life in Heaven. Of course that gift wasn't quite as exciting to a 12-year-old boy as, say, a bike or a skateboard, but I prayed to God and accepted His gift because I knew that it was better to go to Heaven than to Hell.
At the time, I thought that repenting of my sins just meant that I asked God for forgiveness, and then I could just keep doing whatever I wanted. I continued to live a life that was full of sin, and it kept me from being fully blessed by God. I didn't realize that true repentance means to turn away from my sins completely, and start living for God, rather than for my own pleasure. It only took me 15 years or so to learn this.
For a while, I would pray that God would help me get rid of the sin in my life, but I knew deep down that I didn't really want to give up my sin. It was too much fun. I really wanted to have it both ways: serve God, but still be able to sin. But, it wasn't long before I realized that the pleasures of sin were starting to become more important to me than serving God.
Soon after I graduated from college, I started allowing God to become less of a priority. My daily Bible reading turned into my once-or-twice-a-month Bible reading. I went to church maybe a dozen times in 5 years. It's no wonder that more and more sin began to creep into my life. I started drinking too much. Before I knew it, I was battling depression and anxiety, and my life was spiraling out of control.
I was living in Keene, New Hampshire, without any friends closeby, and working at a job that I was ceasing to enjoy (partly because I was alone and depressed), when God started working a miracle in my life. My friend and I were running an Internet business, in addition to our regular jobs, and God allowed it to take off. Pretty soon I was able to quit my job and work solely on my Internet business. I moved to Lynchburg, Virginia to be closer to friends, and to start my new life.
Except I wasn't quite ready for success.
As I started working on my new business, I quickly realized that the money would continue to roll in even if I didn't spend much time working. Before long, I was bored. I started drinking more. I bought a plasma TV and a new stereo system, and I would spend a lot of time in my room, watching TV, surfing the Internet and drinking. I would go weeks without doing any actual work.
Finally, God started to tug at my heart. I realized I was getting nowhere in life, even if I was making a lot of money from my business. I felt like I needed another change of scenery, and I ended up moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, because I took an Internet quiz that determined that Raleigh was the best place for me.
Within a few months, I met my girlfriend and we found a great church and started going almost every Sunday. Slowly, I started to realize that the pleasures of my sin can't even come close to the pleasure of living out God's will for my life. Or to use the words of Ravi Zacharius: "The intimacy God gives you is so beautiful and pure, no seduction the world has to offer will ever come close."
These days, I create websites to help Christians connect with each other, and to spread the word of the Gospel. I started Fellowshipping.ORG in April 2006 to help people get connected with other people in their church and around the world. I started ShareMyTestimony.org in October 2006, to allow people to share their testimony with the world online.
This story is also posted at ShareMyTestimony.org. Please check out the site if you'd like to share your testimony with the world, or just to be inspired by reading how God has worked in the lives of others.
Unfortunately for some people, their entire spiritual experience seems to be based on what sounds right to them. Fortunately for me (and my brother too), I discovered that I didn't have to figure out the meaning of life on my own. I found out that God had revealed his divine plan to us through the Bible.
I started going to church with my family (not because I was really interested in spiritual matters at the time, but more because I couldn't get out of it). I started to learn that getting into Heaven wasn't quite as simple as "not killing someone". I was already guilty before God even if I had sinned just once, because the Bible says that the penalty of sin is death.
Fortunately, I also learned that God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to die for my sins, and all I needed to do was accept that gift and repent of my sins, and I would get eternal life in Heaven. Of course that gift wasn't quite as exciting to a 12-year-old boy as, say, a bike or a skateboard, but I prayed to God and accepted His gift because I knew that it was better to go to Heaven than to Hell.
At the time, I thought that repenting of my sins just meant that I asked God for forgiveness, and then I could just keep doing whatever I wanted. I continued to live a life that was full of sin, and it kept me from being fully blessed by God. I didn't realize that true repentance means to turn away from my sins completely, and start living for God, rather than for my own pleasure. It only took me 15 years or so to learn this.
For a while, I would pray that God would help me get rid of the sin in my life, but I knew deep down that I didn't really want to give up my sin. It was too much fun. I really wanted to have it both ways: serve God, but still be able to sin. But, it wasn't long before I realized that the pleasures of sin were starting to become more important to me than serving God.
Soon after I graduated from college, I started allowing God to become less of a priority. My daily Bible reading turned into my once-or-twice-a-month Bible reading. I went to church maybe a dozen times in 5 years. It's no wonder that more and more sin began to creep into my life. I started drinking too much. Before I knew it, I was battling depression and anxiety, and my life was spiraling out of control.
I was living in Keene, New Hampshire, without any friends closeby, and working at a job that I was ceasing to enjoy (partly because I was alone and depressed), when God started working a miracle in my life. My friend and I were running an Internet business, in addition to our regular jobs, and God allowed it to take off. Pretty soon I was able to quit my job and work solely on my Internet business. I moved to Lynchburg, Virginia to be closer to friends, and to start my new life.
Except I wasn't quite ready for success.
As I started working on my new business, I quickly realized that the money would continue to roll in even if I didn't spend much time working. Before long, I was bored. I started drinking more. I bought a plasma TV and a new stereo system, and I would spend a lot of time in my room, watching TV, surfing the Internet and drinking. I would go weeks without doing any actual work.
Finally, God started to tug at my heart. I realized I was getting nowhere in life, even if I was making a lot of money from my business. I felt like I needed another change of scenery, and I ended up moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, because I took an Internet quiz that determined that Raleigh was the best place for me.
Within a few months, I met my girlfriend and we found a great church and started going almost every Sunday. Slowly, I started to realize that the pleasures of my sin can't even come close to the pleasure of living out God's will for my life. Or to use the words of Ravi Zacharius: "The intimacy God gives you is so beautiful and pure, no seduction the world has to offer will ever come close."
These days, I create websites to help Christians connect with each other, and to spread the word of the Gospel. I started Fellowshipping.ORG in April 2006 to help people get connected with other people in their church and around the world. I started ShareMyTestimony.org in October 2006, to allow people to share their testimony with the world online.
This story is also posted at ShareMyTestimony.org. Please check out the site if you'd like to share your testimony with the world, or just to be inspired by reading how God has worked in the lives of others.
