THE JOURNEY THAT BEGINS WITH A SINGLE - SOLO - STEP

 

My husband Jim and I each grew up in church going families of two different Christian traditions.  While we lived at home with our parents we regularly attended church as a family.  But after we were married and could decide for ourselves what we would do with our lives, we stopped attending church.  God wasn’t on our radar. 

Sunday became a day on which we slept late, went out to breakfast, read the paper, and generally lazed around.  In the summer, maybe we’d drive to a park or to the beach and spend the day there.  Not only didn’t we attend church, but for more than 7 years, we never even sensed a need for God.  And then something changed.

I had begun working as a special education teacher right out of college.  I loved my teaching job and I loved the kids I taught, but over time I began to notice a restlessness.  I wasn’t as content as I had been, with my job, or my life. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but at some point, instead of listening to music on the radio while I was driving to work, I began to listen to a Christian radio station.  I may not know how I began listening, but I know now that God was at work, wooing my heart!  

It’s so long ago now, that I have forgotten most of the details, but what I do remember is that over time the words of that radio preacher began to make sense.  The Gospel, which I had heard often growing up, gripped me as it never had before, and I eventually went from being indifferent about Jesus – to having a soul stirring longing to KNOW Him.  I recognize now that behind my discontent with life as it was, and a new longing for Jesus, was the Holy Spirit.  Finally, at the end of 1975, I could do nothing else but surrender my heart to Jesus. 

A couple of things changed immediately.  The first was that I was incredibly in love with, and excited to know Jesus, and the second was that I couldn’t get enough of reading the Bible.  Many times over the years growing up I had tried to read the Bible, beginning with Genesis, but I soon gave up, usually when I came to those genealogy lists!

Now though, it seemed as if I had never read it before.  Things began to jump out at me and make SENSE in a way they never had before. For the very first time I recognized that what I was reading was TRUTH!  I was flying high with the excitement every new believer experiences.

While I was on this new adventure of faith, poor Jim was scratching his head and wondering what had happened to his wife.  I began to talk to him about what I was learning – and believe me I talked about it A LOT!  He was gracious and kind but not especially interested himself. 

Since faith and church will always go together in my mind, as soon as I had embarked on this new relationship with Jesus, I began to think about returning to church.  I really wanted us to go together as a couple, but Jim was not ready.  I didn’t know what to do, so I made an appointment to talk to a pastor. 

The first thing he suggested was that I begin praying for Jim to come to Jesus too.  And then he encouraged me to plan to attend church, and then extend an invitation to Jim to come along – not with pressure tactics - but with a simple invitation, and to come whether or not Jim did.  He said maybe eventually Jim would also come.  So I did as he suggested.

Some months later, in mid-winter, Jim was working an audit in South Jersey when a snow storm hit.  He was on his way home when his car slid and hit a telephone pole.  The car was demolished, but Jim was unhurt.  Instead of coming home, he stayed the night in a hotel – and thought about what would have happened to him if he had died.  Dying apart from Jesus was not something he wanted to contemplate, and so there in his hotel room, he surrendered his life to Jesus as well.  And for the last 38 years Jim and I have walked with Jesus – together.

It occurred to me as I thought about Jim’s faith story and mine that what we Christians always want is for all of the people we care about: our spouses, children, grandchildren, neighbors, loved ones – all of them,  to have a relationship with Jesus.  But coming to faith in Jesus isn’t really a group activity.  It’s THE journey that begins with a single – but SOLO – step.

I was listening to a CD today of a sermon by Dr. David Jeremiah in which he said this:

God doesn’t have grandchildren. Just because you grew up in a Christian home with Christian parents doesn’t automatically make YOU a Christian.

My parents took me to church.  I went to Sunday school and youth group.  I heard the gospel of Jesus many times.  But when it came to knowing Jesus and walking with Him myself, I couldn’t rely on THEIR faith to save me from MY sin.  I had to come to the place ON MY OWN where I realized MY need for Jesus. 

Jim and I took our girls to church, we read the Bible with them, we prayed with them, we tried to be good Christian parents – but when it comes to Jesus – OUR faith cannot transfer to them automatically.  They have to come to faith in Jesus on THEIR own, each of them, individually.  Our granddaughter will have to come to it on HER own.  

Faith is a life-long journey of walking with Jesus, and it’s a journey we walk WITH Him and other believers – but that journey BEGINS with a single – but SOLO – step – the step of acknowledging that Jesus die for MY sins.  No one can take that step for me.  It’s a SOLO step.

I confess, when the Lord was working on my heart all those years ago, I wasn’t thinking about Jim.  I wasn’t thinking about what might happen if Jim didn’t also put his faith in Jesus.  All I knew was that Jesus was calling ME and I couldn’t say NO.  I wanted the forgiveness and the relationship He was offering.  Once I knew Jesus, I wanted Jim to know Him too, and so I talked with Jim about Him – but whether or not Jim believed in Jesus – I could not say no to His invitation to believe in Him.  Eventually, the Lord graciously drew Jim as well.

I can tell you honestly that I have never regretted for a single moment surrendering my life to Jesus.  He has been the joy of my life.  He has comforted me through trials (and there have been many), He has invited me on some pretty amazing faith adventures, and one day I’ll SEE Him and be WITH Him forever.  That will be bliss!

If your heart is warmed as you think about Jesus, then that is the Holy Spirit,  speaking to YOU.  Don’t hesitate to take the step of faith in Jesus that will set you on a journey you will never regret.  Don’t worry about whether your loved ones will journey with you.  Jesus has them well in hand and that first step is theirs to take.