Are You in the Right Family?

Do you believe that just because you are born into a certain family religion, that you are on the right path to Heaven? I assumed that the church and the religious instruction that I received as I was growing up was “correct”. In fact, when I was about twelve years old I got into a fight with my best friend, because each of us thought our own religion was the only way to heaven. I alternated over the next 12 years from being extremely devout, to wondering about the whole concept of God. The Bible teaches that “there is a way that seems right unto a man but the ends thereof are the way of death” I thought I was in God’s family because of what my church taught me, but in reality, I wasn’t — yet.

I believe that a person isnít educated just by going to school. So, after college I moved to Atlanta to broaden my horizons. I hadnít been faithful in church attendance while in college. With the uncertainties that lay ahead of me in a strange city, I told God that if he would help me find a job and a place to stay in Atlanta, then I would go back to church. Circumstances fell into place, so I started to attend church. I now know that God was working on my heart at that time. Although I was happy, and active in my church, I did wonder about other denominations. I visited other churches to see what they were like. I also questioned some of the teachings of my church. One other thing I thought a person needed, to be truly educated, was to read the Bible. So, around Christmas of 1976, I decided to read the Bible for myself. About this time, I met a young lady who was born again. Her name was Lynn. I told her about my desire to read the bible. She gave me a Bible, and told me to start reading the Gospel of John.

The very first line in John spoke to me. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” I simply accepted this as the absolute truth directly from God, put right before me! I read in John, chapter 3, of the need to be born again. John, chapter 3, verse 18, showed me that since I had not believed, I was condemned already. That really shocked me. I was “condemned already” — it wasnít a matter of waiting until I died. The worst revelation was yet to come. In John, chapter 3, verse 36, the Bible said that because I didnít have the Son, the wrath of God was abiding upon me. Being under the wrath and condemnation of God was not a pleasant feeling for me. I knew right then, that I was not right with God. He was dealing with my heart in a big way at that moment. Even though I believed in God, and had tried to be a good person, I had never believed in Jesus Christ the way that God had meant for me to.

Right there in my apartment, while reading the Gospel of John, I let down the barrier that I had erected in my heart to keep God at a comfortable distance. Then I received Christ on Godís terms, instead of on my terms. Immediately I sensed something was different inside me. I now know that difference was the Holy Spiritís letting me know that nothing was ever going to be the same in my life. Indeed, the Bible says that “if any man be in Christ, all things are become new.”

I knew then with certainty that I was going to heaven when I died. Before that, I was a man that was hoping I might go to heaven, but I did not know for sure. In reality, as the Bible had just revealed to me, I was hell-bent and hellbound. Wow, here in an instant, Jesus Christ gloriously rescued me from my sin, and changed my destiny from hell to heaven. I knew then, that when I died I would go to heaven. I didnít have to wait and see, as I had mistakenly thought all my life.

As I read the Bible over the next few weeks, I realized I had been “saved” that night, and that I was now, for the first time in my life, genuinely a Christian. What a wonderful prospect. I felt a new-found peace.

Since that time, I have seen God work wonders in my life. I have had many prayers answered. Some of the circumstances were so unique that it could only have been God answering my prayers. One of these occasions included money being supplied – down to the exact penny – when I was in need. My own desires have been totally changed. The things I used to desire no longer control me, as they had before. I have a love for going to church — instead of just enduring it. The Bible has become a wonderful, exciting, and interesting book — instead of dull, dry and confusing.

The best thing ever to happen to me, was the day I got saved and was reborn. My physical birth and behavior placed me into the family of Satan — with the rest of the fallen human race. By being born again, I was placed in Godís family, and I became a son of God. The question of my family relationship is now eternally settled. The eternal destiny of every person depends on their relationship to Jesus Christ — not on their religion. If you are interested in your relationship with God, I would love to talk to you about my new “family,” — and about my Heavenly Father.

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Bob Clarke