When I was 12 years old I had an experience I
sometimes think of as coming alive spiritually. The phrase Jesus used for this
experience is being born again. (John 3:3)
Obviously as a 12-year-old, I was immature and my
knowledge and understanding of God, theology and spiritual matters was limited.
However, here are three things I understood even at that age:
1) I need God.
2) I cannot save myself.
3) I choose to trust Jesus.
That was a long time ago. Now I have experienced way
more life. I have made thousands of mistakes. I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve
failed many times and I’ve enjoyed a few successes. I have cried. I have
laughed. (On a few occasions I’ve laughed so hard that I cried.) I’ve been a
student and I’ve been a teacher. I have had the experience of being led and I
have had the experience of being a leader.
I have read scores of books about God, discipleship,
theology, biblical commentary, the life of Jesus and other Christian topics. I
know a lot more about these issues than I did when I was 12 and, yet, my
knowledge and understanding of theology and spiritual matters is still limited.
(Give me a little break, after all, God is an incredibly big, deep and profound
subject.)
Here are three things I understand at my current
age:
1) I need God.
2) I cannot save myself.
3) I choose to trust Jesus.
