Where were you when Jesus took the road to Calvary?

It was another Friday night in Valdosta...what were most teens doing?  Cruisin' Ashley Street...what else?  The loop was Ashley Cinemas to Wendy's and back again.  The drill? Roll your window down and hoot & holler at other people cruisin'.  If you were the passenger, hang out of the sunroof hootin' & hollerin'.  If you didn't think it before, you certainly do now...yes, I was a country girl.  After all, if you had a few friends and a cool car (I did---well in my mind the 1985 red Thunderbird was something special....), you were living the life!  The year was 1987, and I had just graduated high school.  I had everything I needed and most of what I wanted.  Again, what more could a girl want.  Those of you as old as I am are smiling because you drove this same loop or another strip in your hometown.

Memories...I have some great ones from high school and those few months after high school...I also have some regrets.  Let's just say, I would not have been the most likely candidate to attend church or teach Sunday School.  However, someone took a risk on me and I was invited to go to a youth event at Morningside Baptist Church.  That July night would begin a spiritual journey for me that would climax in September when I would come face to face with my Savior.  Needless to say, I realized I didn't have it all.  I had all the world had to offer but I was missing the most important thing of all...a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Another event at Morningside, I walked the aisle and made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.  That's not my focus here but what I brought with me is....a life that had been lived for myself and my own pleasures....a life that had taken many risks with no regard for the reality of death being just around the corner.  Yet, in a split second, I was faced with the cross.  John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  The cross where Jesus paid the debt for all those sins I committed as a teenager...all those mistakes I made...all the selfish choices....all the risks---including the many times I had driven like a nascar racer just because my car would allow.

I could share so many personal things about those times but don't feel I should at this time in order not to distract from my purpose in writing today.  Instead, I want to ask you where were you when Jesus took that journey to the cross.  I was living a life for myself playing Russian roulette with my choices...but Jesus saw something in me I didn't see...He saw someone worthy of salvation.  As we are in this Holy Week reflect on the journey Jesus took....Hosanna in the Highest...He took the road to the cross to pay for whatever sins you committed.  Rest assured, if He could find me worthy, He won't turn you away.  I am 26 years this side of my encounter with Calvary but it is as real to me today as if it were yesterday.  In your busy week, take just a minute and pause...reflect on where you were when you got saved...don't lose sight of where you were....then share that with someone else in need of our Savior!

Maybe you are reading this and wonder what does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I would love to share with you or you can follow this link below:


Below is an exert from David Jeremiah's website

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/about/becoming_a_christian.aspx

• Because of our sin, we are separated from God.For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)
• The Penalty for our sin is death.For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
• The penalty for our sin was paid by Jesus Christ!But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
• If we repent of our sin, then confess and trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be saved from our sins!For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Romans 10:13)
  ...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9,10)