Restoring Kingdom Builders

How old are you spiritually?

While many people aren’t sure … it’s something I’ve always known.

As a kid, I constantly heard two themes repeated over and over:

*We’re all sinners

*Jesus died on the cross for sinners

Even at the age of 6, I knew I was imperfect and in spiritual trouble … but all the songs and lessons and sermons I heard told me that God loved me and that Jesus died for me.

One Saturday, our family went to the Broadway Shopping Center in Anaheim.  On our way home, I asked my parents if I could receive Jesus into my life … and they said I could.

My parents never pressured me into inviting Jesus into my life.  It was a decision that I made myself.

At 7:00 that night, my father and I knelt beside my bed, and he led me to faith in Christ.  After we prayed, I sensed a flutter in the region of my heart … and told my parents that I felt Jesus coming into my life.

The following year, my pastor/father baptized me.  I think I received a Bible with my name imprinted on it after my baptism.

There was a section between the Old and New Testaments for people to write down important events in their family’s life.  Since my parents told me to write down the date of my conversion, I decided to record it in my Bible … and wrote that:

“Jimmy Meyer and the Lord Jesus Christ were united in holy matrimony on July 6, 1960.”

When I finally learned what “holy matrimony” was years later, I felt a little stupid … but in retrospect, the term seems to fit both theologically and experientially.

Spiritual conversion is a mysterious and wonderful thing.

About half the people who receive Jesus can’t remember the date when they received Him … and about half can remember.

I’ve always remembered, although I’m not always sure how to celebrate the occasion.

My conversion to Jesus Christ has lasted for 52 years.  I’m more than half a century old in the Lord.

But I take no credit for my salvation.  The glory and honor all goes to Jesus Christ.

There is still a lot of controversy in theological circles about Calvinism and Arminianism.

How much of a part does God play in conversion?  How big a part do we as humans play?

I’ve always leaned more toward God’s part but understand why others feel differently.

But I hope we can all agree with these three lines from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

“I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love.”

That’s exactly how I feel … today and every day.

I am grateful to God that He gave me parents who loved Him and shared Christ with me.

I am thankful for churches that preached the gospel so I could grasp it, even at a young age.

I am indebted to many believers who modeled Christlikeness for me and taught me His Word.

But above and beyond all human intervention, I am glad for the grace of God in my life.

These lines – from “At the Cross,” my favorite hymn – perfectly encapsulate my feelings today:

But drops of grief can ne’er repay

The debt of love I owe

Here Lord, I give myself away

‘Tis all that I can do