ON THE RECORD

I was a victim of a well-meaning church attack when I was 20.

"Nikki, exactly when did you come to know Jesus?"

Every soul in the room had provided solid evidence of their conversion. They proudly rattled off dates, times, and serial numbers on their church-issued certificates. 

Me? It was hard to pinpoint when I met Jesus.

I was nursed in the pews and raised on "Amens" and "Hallelujahs." Hardly a week passed that I didn't visit the altar to ask Jesus back into my heart.

Baptismal records were a little soggy, too. Sprinkled once, dunked 3 more times, I tried to keep my salvation afloat.

I never once doubted that Jesus was real, but I often wondered if I was.

So when I answered, "I don't really know," a religious bully delivered a knock-out blow to my tender faith.

"If you don't know, you're not saved," he said.

I ran out the door and became a Sunday School dropout.

But today, I've returned to the pew with a firm grip on the truth in my Bible.

Salvation doesn't depend on a date, a class, a ceremony, or a set of rules.

Eternal life rests on faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

"If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9, NIV)

So the question is NOT “WHEN” you first believed; IT’S “WHO” you first believed in.

Better to point to the foot of the cross, than a date on the calendar. That is where and when your salvation first began.

And the moment you said "Yes" to Jesus is forever recorded in the Book of Life, even if Mom forgot to mark it down.

Humans may forget, but God never does.

For God says,

“At just the right time, I heard you.

    On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

(2. Corinthians 6:2, NLT)