Steve H
Steve
H

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I realised I had to act on what I’d learned.
If you’d asked me as a teenager if I was going to heaven, I’d have said “I expect so.” Ask me now and I’d say “Yes.”
Christened as a baby, my family nominally believed in God, but it didn’t make much difference to our lifestyle. Pre-teens, I attended church once a year whilst staying with an aunt during summer holidays. I also enjoyed the church beach missions – but only because of the games we played.
During my Scout Group’s monthly church parade, adults went up to the altar for communion, and I thought that was a good idea, so attended confirmation classes. I was duly confirmed, and so on parade Sundays I could receive communion. I was pretty sure that, when I got to the pearly gates, St. Peter would be bound to let me in because I wasn’t one of those ‘bad’ people, and I’d collected more holy stamps on my passport than many of my friends. I was putting my faith in being good enough.
When I started work at 18, a colleague introduced me to his church, which had a big youth group. I enjoyed their activities, but also began to hear the authentic Christian gospel explained clearly for the first time. Rather than being a good ‘religious’ person deserving heaven, I was confronted by a God of justice and realised my failings made me deserve hell. But there was an answer: God’s love meant that He sent His Son Jesus to take my punishment, so that I might go to heaven – not because I deserve it, but because of His love for me. I was also challenged by how my colleague put his faith into action in the hurly-burly of the workplace. When the minister preached on Exodus 10:3, where Moses says to Pharaoh “How much longer will you refuse to submit to me?” I realised I had to act on what I’d learned. I had to ask God for forgiveness, accept the offer of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice for me, and allow God to make a difference in my life.
Former school friends noticed some subtle changes in my lifestyle as I put my new faith into practice. Now, I can live out a life confident of a future hope of eternity with God, and therefore worry less about what happens in this life. Nearly 50 years after that life-changing moment, I trust that people will still see in me that my real Christian faith and trust in Jesus makes a difference in the way I live my life.