I was thirteen years of age and full of good deeds based on my religious background and my family values. I worked hard at school, attended church, helped around the house, smiled and greeted people in the neighbourhood and maintained strong moral behaviour outside of the home. I was not aware of the necessity of having peace and friendship with God in order to have a home in heaven.
My schoolteacher, who was a born-again Christian, noted my self-righteous position and invited me to her home for a talk. She graded my behaviour as good and commendable. Then she read to me from the Bible and got me to read the same passage, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber’.[1]
My teacher told me that I was ‘a little goody-goody’ but that I was sinful in my heart, because everyone of us has a sinful heart until he/she comes to Christ in repentance and asks for forgiveness. Jesus died and rose again to rescue everyone from their sinful state and if I sought His forgiveness, He would not turn me away.
I believed what we had read from the Bible. I felt my guilt, and my good works collapsed into nothingness before me. As my teacher and I bowed in prayer, I confessed my sins to the Lord, and I received forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Him. At that moment I became aware that the burden of guilt which I was carrying was now gone and that I was at peace with God.
The Lord Jesus Christ has been my supreme and unchanging Friend, who piloted me throughout my teenage years, sometimes through challenging and unknown situations, and has continued to do so over the past 68 years. I thank God that I am no longer deceived by seeking to do good deeds and bypassing the Son of God ‘who loved me and gave himself for me’.[2] Instead, I now belong to Him and He directs my life and lifestyle. The Lord leads me to undertake the good works, which please Him, as I reach out to others. One day he will take me to my home in heaven which He is now preparing. Jesus receives all who call upon Him for salvation[3] – from the self-righteous to notorious characters and those in between.
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