Majestic Moments #1: A Night to Remember

Every so often God breaks through the humdrum of our everyday lives and gives us a majestic moment. These experiences are so special and memorable that only God could be behind them. I’ve been blessed to have experienced a number of majestic moments, and I hope you have, too.

My first majestic moment happened the night I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I grew up in a family that went to church every Sunday. I assumed I was a Christian since I was doing the things Christians did. I put money in the offering, went to Sunday school, and prayed before bed. I figured that when I died if the good outweighed the bad I’d go to heaven; if the bad outweighed the good, I was in big trouble and would spend eternity in Hell.

When I was 24 my pastor gave me a booklet How You Can Be Sure You Are A Christian (Campus Crusade).  As I read it I learned that God longs for a personal, intimate, and moment-by-moment relationship with us. But there’s a problem. God is perfect and without sin; we are imperfect and sin all the time. To sin is to fall short of God’s standard of perfection. Committing even one sin separates us from God.  There’s no way we can enter His Presence, much less be with Him in heaven forever.

Although He is a God of love, He also is a God of justice. Someone must pay the penalty for our wrongdoings.  There’s no way we can pay the price for our sins; and we can’t earn our way into heaven.  We’re in a hopeless situation. We’re drowning in a sea of sin, going down for the third time, and need a Savior to rescue us.

At just the right time God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place on the Cross.  He lived a perfect life and is without sin.  He alone is able to save us by paying the penalty for our sins. When we acknowledge our sins, and ask that Christ’s death on the Cross apply as to us personally, we receive God’s forgiveness as a free gift by grace through faith.

I must’ve read the booklet 10 times before I realized I’d left out an important step. I believed that Jesus was God’s Son and He died for my sins. But I had never asked Jesus into my life so His payment for sins would apply to me personally.

In the quiet of my Living Room I bowed my head and prayed a simple prayer. “Lord, I admit that I’m a sinner and will never be able to earn my way into heaven. I ask You to come into my life as my Lord and Savior. By faith I believe that my sins have been forgiven because of what You did on the cross. Thank You that I’m now part of Your family. Amen.”

If you have never prayed a similar prayer, I invite you to bow your head and repeat the words above. The Bible promises, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 NLT).

If you prayed that prayer you are now a child of God. You have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the Leader of your life and your forever Friend. Be sure to tell another believer – right now – the wonderful thing that’s happened in your life.

© 2011 Designed to Serve®