Saturday, September 23, 2006
Every Journey Starts with a First Step
What is the first step? Does this step decide what your life will be? Why do some people decide to make the Journey alone? To discover the answers to these questions, we can cover ground that is familiar to some and completely strange to others. Most people feel they are on a Journey of some sort, but are unable to explain its purpose. Many arrive at the end of their Journey and still feel as unawakened to the Voice as they were at the beginning. They have perhaps achieved much in the way of material things, but they arrive at the end of their journey with misgivings and absolutely no certainty about the future.
My interest, at the time, was in the end of the Journey and this interest was quickened when I read a little book called “The Traveller’s Guide”. The writer told the story of a man who said he had to go on a journey. He had not prepared for it, yet he knew was going. He did not know the destiny before him. It was the journey of life itself. It must end sometime. To me this put the way one lived very much to the fore and as I had been taught about life after death, I had in mind the need to decide early in life and make preparation for that particular Journey.
I was going at the time to hear a Welsh evangelist who was preaching in a Crusade. I listened to him every night. He was certain that what he was teaching was true and I felt that much of what he was saying was relative to me. Many evenings he finished in tears. I knew that the Voice I was hearing was the Voice of Truth but I was struggling with the usual desires which overcome many young people in life. But I had a choice to make. It was as simple as that.
Just two nights before the Crusade was to close I was very much affected by the message preached. Should I say “Yes” or should I put the decision off again? A Sunday school teacher had taught the whole class to remember the 19th chapter of John’s Gospel. It contains the story of the crucifixion.
Three crosses standing side by side on Calvary’s Hill, of broken law a sign. Two for their own transgressions died, the middle One for mine.
As the speaker closed in prayer I struggled with making this decision. Should I accept the message and allow Jesus to enter my heart and rule my life? I knew this was what it meant. Looking at the three crosses I decided to make the decision. Yes, I would. I did not realize then that that decision would make such a change in my life and lead me hear that Voice again and again and to experience again and again a “power” which I could not explain.
I realize now that I had been brought to a place of decision by the Voice and to the Cross where I could acknowledge my need and receive the forgiveness of sins. I knew that Jesus said,
“When He (the Voice - the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment to come”.
I did not realize fully then that I was entering into a relationship in which I would learn to hear the Voice instructing me, teaching me, counseling me and showing me the way I should go. I would never have to do anything on my own again. I did not fully realize that I was now in the family of God, a son with a Heavenly Father who would hold me again and again in the hollow of His hand. He would prepare me for all the various things I would experience in life. I would find the Voice telling me to “live in the Now”.
Heaven is round about us when we are aware of not only the Voice but the “Presence”. This was what He meant when He promised to “supply all my needs.” I knew then that when I made the decision to say “Yes” that I did not need to worry anymore about the hereafter. That was settled too. I was certain that my name was written in Heaven that night and would never be eradicated. The new relationship was vital - a son.
My interest, at the time, was in the end of the Journey and this interest was quickened when I read a little book called “The Traveller’s Guide”. The writer told the story of a man who said he had to go on a journey. He had not prepared for it, yet he knew was going. He did not know the destiny before him. It was the journey of life itself. It must end sometime. To me this put the way one lived very much to the fore and as I had been taught about life after death, I had in mind the need to decide early in life and make preparation for that particular Journey.
I was going at the time to hear a Welsh evangelist who was preaching in a Crusade. I listened to him every night. He was certain that what he was teaching was true and I felt that much of what he was saying was relative to me. Many evenings he finished in tears. I knew that the Voice I was hearing was the Voice of Truth but I was struggling with the usual desires which overcome many young people in life. But I had a choice to make. It was as simple as that.
Just two nights before the Crusade was to close I was very much affected by the message preached. Should I say “Yes” or should I put the decision off again? A Sunday school teacher had taught the whole class to remember the 19th chapter of John’s Gospel. It contains the story of the crucifixion.
Three crosses standing side by side on Calvary’s Hill, of broken law a sign. Two for their own transgressions died, the middle One for mine.
As the speaker closed in prayer I struggled with making this decision. Should I accept the message and allow Jesus to enter my heart and rule my life? I knew this was what it meant. Looking at the three crosses I decided to make the decision. Yes, I would. I did not realize then that that decision would make such a change in my life and lead me hear that Voice again and again and to experience again and again a “power” which I could not explain.
I realize now that I had been brought to a place of decision by the Voice and to the Cross where I could acknowledge my need and receive the forgiveness of sins. I knew that Jesus said,
“When He (the Voice - the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment to come”.
I did not realize fully then that I was entering into a relationship in which I would learn to hear the Voice instructing me, teaching me, counseling me and showing me the way I should go. I would never have to do anything on my own again. I did not fully realize that I was now in the family of God, a son with a Heavenly Father who would hold me again and again in the hollow of His hand. He would prepare me for all the various things I would experience in life. I would find the Voice telling me to “live in the Now”.
Heaven is round about us when we are aware of not only the Voice but the “Presence”. This was what He meant when He promised to “supply all my needs.” I knew then that when I made the decision to say “Yes” that I did not need to worry anymore about the hereafter. That was settled too. I was certain that my name was written in Heaven that night and would never be eradicated. The new relationship was vital - a son.
# posted by Alex Weir @ 6:39 PM 
