Like many testimonies, mine starts off in a loving Christian home. I was surrounded by people who loved God, put him first and taught me about him and the amazing things he had done for me. I didn’t really mind my life being church-oriented, I liked having a second family, and somewhere else to play, but as a child that was all church really meant to me.
At the midweek clubs, like Tuesday special, I was so focused on winning the games, I wouldn’t pay much attention to the talks, and this didn’t really change much as I grew up. I would call myself a Christian but I was always unsure whether I truly was. I felt like I let God down too much, too often for him to hold a place for my name in his book of life.
God had given me so much to be thankful for, I had done nothing to deserve it; I would be easily distracted, replacing my bible study with scrolling through Facebook, only taking time out for God when I needed him.
God had sent his one and only son into this world to die on the cross for everyone, including myself, so that those who believe could have eternal life, and how did I say thank you? I put myself first before him; everything was about me, and my way, not God’s way.
I would feel guilty for leaving God out of the picture, so every once in a while I would pray to him asking him to forgive me, telling myself I would try harder, but like the Israelites in the Old Testament, I would soon be back to my old sinful ways.
But this one night, instead of checking social media, I picked up a book I had bought at the Pioneer Christian Camp; I had not even opened the cover since bringing it home.
I was expecting it to be like all the other bible study books which I had started but soon lost interest in. This was not like the others; it had real passages from the bible, with sections of information about characters and places, making the bible feel like one continuous story right from start to finish. It was captivating and I didn’t want to put it down.
It was while reading this book, (Called ‘The Story’, highly recommend) that for the first time did I truly understand and appreciate what God had done for me. I knew that I was leading a sinful life and that I needed to change. I was genuinely sorry for my sins, I full-heartedly believed Jesus died for me and I accepted Jesus as my saviour and King.
Since then, I have lived my life with God as the focus. I still make mistakes, sinning is still a daily problem I face but with Gods continuous love and graciousness, I can be reassured that I am one of his children.
