A good friend of mine and I were talking, or rather he was telling me his testimony. Before he was saved, he would do all kind of things he never does now. And the part of his testimony that really sticks out to me is that his children have never seen that part of his life.
Since the Lord saved his soul, his life has been vastly different. And I don't want to put any specific details out, but sufficient it is to say that he is a living example of putting off the old man, and having put on the new man.
And I think that's awesome. His children only know him as a man of God, and nothing else. It is, at least to me, inspiring. It reminds me of Galatians, where Paul writes
"Gal 1:23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
Gal 1:24 And they glorified God in me. "
And, in a weird sense, I kinda-sorta feel like Paul in this sense, as well as my friend. Granted, I never persecuted the church, and I was saved at the age of nine, but compared to where I was in life a year ago, the Lord has done some major renovations in my life, for which I am so grateful that I don’t even know how to describe it.
And because of that, and many other factors, I really don't want to do anything but serve the Lord for the rest of my life. In a recent discussion with some friends, an extremely intelligent friend of mine said something like, "You know, in 10 years, there is at least least one of us won't be serving the Lord."
Things like that scare me. I know it's true, but I still don't like it. And I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the kid who couldn't make it through the training center. I don't wanna be that guy who gets to the field and lasts half a term. I don't wanna be the father who has to explain to his kids why we don't go to church anymore.
I do want to be that kid who did everything he could possibly do to make it through the training center, and made it as many terms on the field as the Lord has for him, and explains to his child why we go to church, and so on and so forth.
And much like Paul, I can see a change in my life that glorifies the Lord. And I’m struggling to tie these two ideas together, but I’m trying my best.
And seeing the change the Lord has done in my life is absolutely amazing to me. And I want to continue to let the Lord change me, and be a man of God. And not that I had a super rocky past or anything, but I’ve strayed well off the beaten path more than once.
And should the Lord bless me with a family of my own, and a ministry of my own, and whatever else, I don’t want them to see that guy who walks off the path, but to see a man who follows the path, and from day one (or so to say).
I hope I tied that together well.
--Pray for Spain. Pray that the Lord would raise up missionaries and native Spaniards to take the gospel to the millions of lost souls in Spain.--
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