Would I be a Christian if I hadn’t been raised in a Christian home?
As I was thinking about some of my friends that I see on an every day basis that aren’t believers, it made me wonder how my life would be different if I had been given their upbringing. There are some people I know, one in particular jumps to my mind, who are smart and thoughtful, but the call of the Gospel is so alien to them that they won’t give it a chance.
As soon as I started thinking that, it made me very grateful for the upbringing I was blessed with. Sure, it could have been better, everyone’s could have, but it is what it is, and at least I grew up constantly knowing the Lord. I may not have really deepened that relationship until I went to college, but the foundation was paved for rapid growth early on in life. Anyone who has ever built a house knows that the foundation takes the longest time. After that, it seems like the building can be thrown up overnight. So on a side note, if you were raised in a Christian home, tell your parents “Thank you.”
I am stubborn. Very stubborn. And that scares me because if I hadn’t grown up having a sense of the Lord’s presence in my family, it would have been very hard I would imagine for me to be convinced of the Truth. I don’t like admitting I am wrong, and talk about admitting you are wrong on something that scale.
Would it have happened in the Lord’s time and in the Lord’s way? Well, of course. John 6:44 states that, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” But I would have lost a lot of time, a lot of my life, living a lie if didn’t know Him.
Clearly God has ordained the parents each of us have, and I will admit that I don’t understand everything. Clearly God wants all to be saved and none to perish (1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9). But looking back, if I could see the old me and I was lost, I sure wish that my friends wouldn’t let me just skate through life without knowing the truth. I would wish that they would fervently evangelize and pray for me without giving up or getting discouraged. Frankly, I would wish that they were more willing and able to share the Gospel to me than, in real life, I probably do to my friends…. I guess evangelism really does get back to the Golden Rule; treat others the way you wish they would treat you in the same situation.
Just a few random and scattered thoughts. Think about it.
I was raised in two homes (divorced parents) that had several different religious between them. It was an odd experience that brought me closer to God.
This is a very important thing to think about. The Lord found me as an adult and I can also be quite stubborn. Praise the Lord that He can woo anyone and anywhere regardless of where they are at! As a mother, I now take very seriously my responsibility to ‘train up a child in the way they should go’. Thanks for the thoughtprovoking post.
Blessings to you in Christ,
Scotti