born again .. and again??

I am currently a junior at the University and it was by God's grace that I was led to hear the Gospel and truly understand who Jesus is.

I grew up thinking I was a Christian for the most part; a lot of my family considered themselves to be Christians.

I would also go to church from time to time and I would pray if I needed help or I was in trouble. I had heard the story of Jesus dying on the cross, but I didn't know what that meant for my life.

I couldn't see that I was a sinner, as I thought of myself as a good person, and I couldn't see that Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

So I continued on with my life, considering myself to be a Christian.

However, because I truly didn't have a personal relationship with God, Christianity seemed empty to me.

In high school I even started delving into philosophy and buddhism, trying to find truth and the purpose of my life.

Although at times I was happy by filling up my life with-exactly just that- fillers (friends, parties, sports, hobbies, fill in the blank…), I knew there was a God and there had to be something more than the life I was living.

For my freshman year of college, by many unfortunate circumstances, I reluctantly ended up at the U. On my first day of classes I ran into a campus minister who asked me some questions about what I believed about God and the Bible.

I realized I had put God on the backburner of my life and that I really didn't know much about what the Bible said (even though I thought I could without reading it). However, it was my beginning year of college and I was determined to live it up and start afresh; I was content with leaving God out of my life and checking out the college scene.

This attitude soon ended though as my dad passed away that semester.

It was the hardest thing I had ever dealt with and a very humbling experience; it made me look at my life and made me think about what would happen when I died and saw God face to face.

What would He say to me? Had I lived my life for Him? I started doing Bible studies with the campus minister I had run into and she shared with me what Jesus did in her life- how when she surrendered her life to Him and repented of her sins He forgave her and made her his daughter, giving her an abundant life to live and an irrevocable, awesome destiny.

On February 11, 2007 I went to church and at the end of the sermon I realized that I was a sinner and that I did not have a personal relationship with God, and right then I prayed and fully surrendered my life to Jesus.

It has been so awesome to come to know Jesus and the things of His kingdom more and more every day. He has given me a life that surpasses anything I could have ever thought of or dreamt! I am so excited to fulfill the call He has put on my life and to see many come to know Him.