Matthew 28:20
“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
I always wondered why all those people held up those signs at football and baseball games with John 3:16 on them. I don’t know why I didn’t think of the Holy Bible when I saw the colon in between the 3 and 16. Maybe I thought it was some kind of inside joke about some guy named John and the time 3:16 that I just didn’t know about.
I was raised Roman Catholic and still practice my faith to this day. I had been going to church every Sunday. It was (and continues to be) my time with God — an escape from the real world and a time to reflect on how I am living the life that God wants me to live. The problem is — I was just going to church. I wasn’t really thinking about why I truly should be there and how awesome God is.
Let me take you back about 5 years ago. I was standing in the back of my church after communion saying my prayers — asking God to watch over my family, my friends and myself. Giving thanks for all the good things in my life. Asking for strength to get through the bad times. My head was bowed down and when I looked up that evening….my life changed forever.
I picked my head up and looked straight at the crucifix hanging above the altar. It’s the same crucifix that I’ve seen my whole life, except this time, I looked at it totally different. I did not have one of those “visions of light” or voices booming from Heaven above, but rather a little voice that seemed to pop into my head — but it wasn’t mine. It was God’s. But he didn’t speak. He just forced me to think like I had never before.
I looked at the crucifix and said to myself “Some day I am going to die. Some day I will leave this world”. My mortality had never even really entered my mind like that. Yes, I know….relatives and friends had passed away, but that was them, not me. I never thought about ME dying.
The floodgates of my mind opened — what had I done during my life to this point? What was I doing right now with the wonderful gift of life that God gave me? Was I living the way He wants me to? If I wasn’t, I must change it now — and forever.
“What you are is God’s gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God.” - Author Unknown
That night changed my life. It brought me closer to God, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to use the term “re-born” because there are sometimes negative connotations associated with it because of people that take their belief to the extreme — in a way that God does not want us to. He wants us to love Him. Love each other. Love ourselves. Accept each other for our differences and learn from them. Pray for those people that do not believe in Him or have strayed from Him.
I try to witness my faith in many different ways. I openly talk about my faith and my beliefs and ask people to share theirs with me. Learn from each other. Strengthen our faiths. Share our love of God.
I also realize that I am a sinner. I am human and have been given free will by God. I have fallen and sinned. We all sin. How we handle this sin defines how we are living a Christian life. Are we sorry for our sins? Do we ask for God’s forgiveness? Or do we continue to sin without thinking about what we are doing?
I hope to make it to Heaven with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Mary our Blessed Mother. I hope that Heaven is what I think it is — a place where all of those that have passed before us have been sharing the love of God with each other and with Him for eternity. In order to do this, I must live a Christian life and love God and follow his teachings and commandments. I am human. I know that living this life (especially in our current world) is not easy, but I must try. It is what God wants me to do.