The Book with No Words

As a brand new year begins I can’t help but reflect and thank God for all the blessings of the year that has just ended.  First of all, we continue to live in the greatest country that this world has ever seen. In the USA we have a myriad of freedoms and liberties that are just not seen in any other country of the world. One of our greatest freedoms is having the right to worship as we see fit, without fear of government interference.

As a youngster growing up in a strong Bible believing church, I heard from a very young age that I was a sinner. That wasn’t hard for me to believe at all; in fact I already knew that I wasn’t right. I had stolen, lied, cheated, and broken the rules many times before I was five or six years old. The best story book I ever heard was the one my Sunday school teacher shared with her kindergarten class. It was odd though, because this book had no words only three pages each a different color. The first page was completely black, which represented my heart, which had a condition we are all born with, sin. Like every other human, I had a dirty heart that needed to be cleaned up. Romans 3:23 says: For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The next page was all red. The red page represented the blood that Jesus shed on the cross when He sacrificed His life for me. II Corinthians 5:21 reads: He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become right with God. I think that is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible. He who knew no sin means, that Jesus was indeed God in the flesh, the only begotten Son of God. He was perfect and therefore he could be the sacrifice that was needed. Page three was an all-white page. My teacher explained that the white page indicated how clean my heart became when I put my trust in Jesus, and believed that the blood that He shed on the cross brought me salvation through faith. We used to sing a hymn in church called “Whiter Than Snow.” It went like this: Lord Jesus I long to be perfectly whole, I want you forever to live in my soul, take down every mountain, cast out every foe, now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Whiter than snow, yes whiter than snow, now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

I remember coming home from church and asking my Mom what it all meant. She explained it again and we prayed together that I would receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. You know what, He became my Savior that very day. It wasn’t all peaches and cream after that though, I had to work hard at following Jesus. But as each year passed, I became stronger in the Lord. I don’t know what I would do without Him in my heart and life. The joy and hope that He gives me when I pray and follow His ways are so tremendous.

At Harvest Hills Community Church our theme for 2016 was the Latin phrase; Coram Deo which means, living every day in the presence of God. It’s not just saying the words that Jesus is my Savior that makes a person a Christian. It’s the fact that we live in His presence every day in obedience to God through prayer, reading the Bible and loving others.

I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for 2017. I hope you feel the same way.

Until next week, God bless.