This is the story of how I came to know Christ personally.
On December 24th, 2008 I got saved. Now you may be thinking, "Hey, that's Christmas Eve!" and you would be correct. I came to know my Savior personally around the same time the world seemed to sing about Him-- which is one of the many reasons why I love Christmas so much. I was only 8 years old, and I was at church with my family. It was a Wednesday night, and our church was having a special service to commemorate the birth of Christ as well as participate in the Lord's Supper which was something we only did once a year.
That night in particular, I was sitting in a middle isle with my family listening to my Preacher explain the gospel and retell the Christmas story. I was already familiar with this story as I had grown up in church, but that night was different because it became real to me. Everything my Pastor had explained Jesus went through and had endured was for me. Christ willingly died for me. The man who would become my Savior was born in a dark, smelly, stinky stable all so that I could go to heaven when I died and be with Him forever. I remember listening to him explain these things and feeling very convicted about them. I knew that without Christ, I was going to die and go to hell, and I didn't want to go there nor did I have to go there--all because Jesus died in my place. He bore my sins on the cross, He suffered on my behalf, and He took my punishment. I realized then and there that I hadn't put my faith in Jesus or trusted in Him completely as my Savior. So right before the men in our church passed out the tiny wafers and cups of grape-juice, our Pastor gave an invitation, and I felt like I needed to go and do business with God. That's when little 8 year old Hailey got up, went to the altar, and gave her life to Christ. I prayed that God would save me from my sins believing that He and He alone would take me to Heaven when I died, and guess what? He did. Jesus saved me! Praise God.
Ever since that day, my life has not been the same, and though that may sound cliché, it is very true. The day I got saved I became a new creature in Christ just as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (KJV). Before I got saved, I was walking in darkness. I was blind to the fact that my sins separated me from a Holy God, and I was living in them. However, after I got saved, I was no longer blinded by my sin. My eyes were opened, and I realized just how poorly I measured up to God's standard of righteousness. You see in His eyes, I was unworthy or unfit to enter Heaven even as a little child. Why? Because I was an imperfect, defiled, and an unholy human being. I was a sinner and by default, an enemy of God. Therefore, I could not have a relationship with God because He was holy and I was not. Yet, God being the kind, generous, loving God that He is willingly sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, in human flesh to live and die for me so that one day I could accept His payment for my sins and be righteous, complete, and holy as He is. Now, because I have accepted Christ as my personal Savior, when God looks down on me, He sees His Son, Jesus Christ. I am no longer bound by my sin, I am no longer considered unworthy or unfit to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because Christ has made me worthy. He and He alone is my standard of righteousness, and because Jesus lives in my heart, I am quite literally a different person. I am a new creature est. Dec 24 '08.
Blessed assurance Jesus is mine; Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, Washed in His blood. This is my story, This is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, This is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long. -lyrics to the hymn Blessed Assurance by Fanny J. Crosby
--Hailey Renee
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