Dear friends,
If my memory is correct, I was six years old when the penny dropped, when God opened my eyes. I came to see that Jesus had given himself for me, and so I gave myself to him in response. Whether or not my memory is correct (and no doubt I didn’t put it in quite those terms as a six-year-old!), that is still my conviction. What I believed then, and still believe, is contained in what is probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible: John 3:16, a Bible reference that can be found in car windows, on shopping bags and at major sporting events: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
I understood that I was ‘perishing’ without Jesus, that I would be totally lost and ruined without him, cut off from God and his love for all eternity. But God gave his Son to die my death. If I ‘believed in him’ and put my trust in him, I would have ‘eternal life’, knowing God and enjoying life with him for ever. It was obvious what I should do.
If you are a Christian already, how would you explain why you are a Christian? Wouldn’t it be good to have a simple explanation ready to give to people? And, if you’re not yet a Christian, can I ask what is stopping you becoming a Christian? Maybe you’ve never heard a proper explanation of what it means to be a Christian, or you didn’t understand it when you heard it? If that’s so, can I encourage you to take another look? Why not come to church again? Or even ask about our Christianity Explored course?
Chris Hobbs,
Vicar.