Most people have one day each year that is special to them, their birthday.
Yesterday was my birthday (#31 on the list), yet August 10th isn’t the most special day of the year for me. In fact today, August 11th is the day I prefer to celebrate.
23 years ago on August 11th 1987 a small 8 year old boy realized that he was a sinner. He hadn’t done anything really awful in his life; he just knew that there was sin! Sin that had crept into only 8 years of life and also sin that would creep into the next 70 years of his life. It was at this point this young boy realized that this sin would mean his soul was dying and that he would spend eternity alone, in pain and anguish. Even at 8 this boy knew his need for God. It was at this point he knelt down and asked God for forgiveness and accepted God’s Grace through making Jesus Christ the Lord of his life.
That boy while not always living a life that was recognizable as someone who had Jesus as the Lord of his life grew up into a man who realized that without August 11th the day before would have had no meaning or purpose. He realized that on that day in 1987 he had received life! Not physical life, but life to his soul! He realized that at 8 years old he made the bravest decision that most adults are scared to take. He decided that this life wasn’t about him, but it was about living a life in complete surrender to Jesus Christ.
Looking back I now understand the power of the cross of Jesus Christ and the love of God to look down on an average little boy and choose to give him one thing that millions in this world do not have, that is a full and satisfying life through Jesus Christ. Today I realize what a gift August 11th is to me, today I recognize without August 11th the other 364 days of the year would be pointless, today I celebrate the greatest and wisest decision I have ever made in my life, that was to become a Christ follower!
If you don’t have Christ in your life, then life isn’t really life for you! If you have not surrendered your life to the power of the cross of Jesus then on your birthday you celebrate a life that has no meaning, no hope and ultimately no joy! You have the opportunity today to have life! Let Christ be the Lord of your life!
