Christianity to Christ

I was born of a Hindu father and a Christian mother, and brought up by my maternal grand parent who were very disciplined and religious follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such I became very self-righteous because I thought I was quite good, not doing the evils of my peers at that time. And I never realized that I was a sinner and needed the Saviour. Because I had the practice of reading the Bible, prayer, attending Sundays Schools and Church meetings regularly. But while at college a friend of mine testified to me about how he was born-again and since then his life was changed! The word 'change' impressed me so much. Since then, there was a thirst for me to know the Lord Jesus Christ in a very personal and subjective way.

At the age of 19, while in college, I was invited to attend a Students' meeting in South India. There, in the first meeting, a message from Mathew 13:1-23 concerning the parable of the Sower and the explanation of the four kinds of soil touched my inner being very deeply. I felt as though God was speaking to me face to face, exposing me of the wicked condition of my heart, like the stony soil with so many stones hidden underneath the soil, many sinful things were hidden within my heart too, of evil thoughts, anger, jealousy, hatred, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, envy, pride etc which people could not see from outside but they were very much present within. The conviction of the Spirit was so strong that right after the meeting I went to a lonely place and knelt down to confess my sins. I used to think I was quite good, but now I despised myself to the uttermost. In my prayer, as I confessed whatever sins I was convicted of, I asked the Lord to forgive me. And as I did so, I felt my sins were forgiven by the Lord Jesus at the cross.

Later I told a brother-friend what had happened with me and asked him to pray for me. As he prayed he thanked God that Jesus Christ had saved me, and following his prayer I claimed by faith the redemptive work of the Lord, in particular, applying the precious blood of Jesus Christ upon myself. And as I did so, in the midst of my prayer I was filled with joy that I never ever experienced in my life. I was so full of joy that I felt like a light shining upon me and I kept praising God, thanking Him for the salvation Jesus Christ accomplished for me, in particular. That was the first time I vividly remembered, a real subjective experience of Christ. Oh the joy of salvation!

PR