Born This Way

When I was little, I heard a story that has still stuck with me to this day.  Although the details are a little sketchy, the main point of the story is something I still think about. 

There was a lady ready to cook her first pot roast.  She was asking help from her Mom and as they were preparing it, the mom told her to cut both ends off the pot roast before putting it into the pan.  The lady asked her Mom "Why are we doing this?  There is about 3 inches of meat that is being wasted."  The mom thought about this for a minute and said "I don't know, my mom always did it this way."  Both ladies became curious about the orgin of cutting the ends off the pot roast.  After trying to deduct why this happens, they decided to call the Grandma.  "Grandma, why did you teach us to cut off the ends of the pot roast?"   After a bit of laughter from the Grandma, she answered "We never had a pan big enough to fit the roast, so we cut the ends off." 

All this time, valuable meat was wasted.  Why?  Because these ladies never questioned it, and performed the task a certain way because they were taught that way. 

How many things in our life are secondhand to us, because "we were taught this way"? 

For those of you who are close to me, you know that I'm not shy about my love for Jesus Christ.  On a daily basis, I try and talk about how much He means to me and share my testimony with others.  For those of you who really know me, you know that it always hasn't been this way. 

I grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  My Dad was always in a position of leadership in our church while  was growing up.  One thing about my Dad, if you don't know him, is that his faith is strong.  My parents know both the Bible and Book of Mormon very well.  When ever I had a question, I could go to them and they always had an answer.  I never questioned my faith, because that's all I knew.  That's how I was raised.  

When I was 23, my oldest brother and I became very close.  We both lived in a state away from all other family.  By that time, my brother had already committed his life to Christ, and one night he sat down with me and talked about his faith.  I'll never forget the verse that he showed me in the Bible:

“For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord,

every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

Romans 14:11-12

The last sentence really caught my attention.  Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.   I realized that this whole time, I never had a testimony of my own.  I always lived off the testimony of my parents.  My parents were so strong in their faith, that I just rode their testimony and claimed it as my own.  I will always love and appreciate my brother for showing me this verse. 

My brother planted a seed in my mind.  I had to gain a testimony and belief in Jesus Christ on my own.  I realized that if I was to die today and I was at the feet of Jesus, I couldn't say "I lived this way because I was raised this way". 

I will be honest.  It took me a year and a half of taking apart the entire Bible before I gained a belief of my own.  By far, it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and that includes wrecking my life during my addiction.  Why?  Because I had to change my entire way of thinking.  I had to take 23 years of knowledge and sift through it, dig deep and through much prayer, come up with my own testimony. 

I've learned through reading that God will hold you responsible for the knowledge that you have, and the knowledge that you don't have. 

We live in a time of urgency.  We never know when we will be at the feet of Jesus.  But we can prepare.  One of these days we will all have to make an account for our actions, our words, our beliefs.   How well do we know Jesus?

We have to ask ourselves this question:  Do I know about Christ, or do I have a relationship with Him?  No matter how you were raised, whether it be Catholic, Buddhist, Mormon, Christian, or Atheist, we all have to hold an account of our own life.  We won't have our friends, or other members of our church, or our family to fall back on when Jesus holds us personally accountable.   

To gain a testimony of our own doesn't come from just knowing the Bible by heart, or memorizing sermons.  A true testimony comes from the revelation of God.  Get on your knees.  Ask God for guidance and discernment.  Start a dialogue with Him.  Do the only thing He asks of you:  start a relationship with Him.

Move from knowing "about" Jesus, to knowing Jesus.