26 August | Youth
«And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.» Matthew 1:21
It is a small name, but it fills the entire world: Jesus. I love this name and everything it represents. Most Christians refer to their encounter with Jesus like this: “I found Christ, and my life changed.” I would like to say the same, but my conversion was different. I became an Adventist when I was ten years old. At the time, I did not feel the need for change in my life. I was a normal kid, and I was interested in being in church, in getting involved, in participating. I wanted to be part of it.
I grew up in church, involved with many activities. I really liked the church. I was an active young Adventist, a true believer. But I was not perfect. And no one expected that from me. What everyone expected was that I would be good. And I thought I was good. I did not swear, I did not do drugs. From time to time, I failed. I confess that I still do. And I must admit that the struggle to be better every day still haunts me. Until one day I made a great discovery: finding Christ has nothing to do with it. Not at all. I do not doubt those who say they met Jesus Christ and their life changed. I know many lives have been truly transformed; but my change did not happen suddenly.
A text that has always challenged me on this journey was John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” And how I wanted to know Jesus!
You can know a lot about a person without meeting them. In fact, you may like the person and want to know everything about them: their name, weight, what they eat, where they go, their favorite hobby, the music they like to listen to. But you have never been with the person, never heard their voice or looked into their eyes.
I did not just want to hear about Jesus, I wanted to know Him; to have a real, living, transformative, unique experience and be able to say: “I know Jesus personally.” How can we know God if we cannot see Him? The best way is to spend time with Him, in His Word. This is how I learned to love Jesus. Not all conversions involve major changes, but they all depend on developing love for Christ. If you go through this experience, you will see your life transformed by the power of God.