The next few weeks were filled with everyday life. Going to work, cleaning the apartment, watching TV and something new – going to Church. I can honestly say that I had probably gone to church less than 10 times up to that point in my life. You know special occasions like weddings, some holidays (Christmas and Easter), and funerals. I was 19 after all and church was for old people. I was young and didn’t have to worry about that stuff for many years…so I thought.

I found myself in church on a weekly basis…sometimes more than one time a week!

I started hearing from the Bible and what God had to say about many different things but what stuck out to me.

God loved ME! and….He wants a PERSONAL relationship with ME.

That was something strange to me. I had always had a small group of friends only 1 or 2 that I would call my besties and for someone to truly want a relationship with me and want me to know them and them to know me was not easy for me to grasp. Luckily, God was patient with me.

I believed that there was a God after all life and this world was so detailed and complex how could it all just of happened. (But that is another topic that we will touch on later.) So that was never an issue but to be able to know Him?! One problem, everyone said that I needed to be a “CHRISTIAN” become “SAVED” and be a part of God’s “FAMILY.” – Those were foreign words to me.

Hey, I was baptized and confirmed. I said my prayers at night, sometimes. I was a good person I helped others when I had to and I was not doing the things that the “bad” kids in school did like drinking and smoking… So I was a Christian so I thought?!?

I quickly learned that I was a SINNER. Ok, I knew that I did things wrong. I thought that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. I wasn’t a murderer, I didn’t steal, I didn’t lie, (well only little white ones), I was trying to be as good as I could and I was a lot better than other people I knew.

BUT…God doesn’t see sin like we do – to Him sin is sin.

My ONE white lie separated me from Him.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Ok, I can admit it – I am a sinner. (Can you?)

The problem I learned is that my sin separated me from God – Your sin does the same thing I am sad to let you know ☹

 Isaiah 59:2 “But your iniquities (sins) have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

 So, I wanted to know what I needed to do to not be separated from God. How do I get rid of my sin!?!

Bible says…

Romans 6:23a “For the wages of sin is death”

Well…. now what???