We've all heard people say this, and perhaps, we feel the same towards our first encounter with Christ. We often hear stories beginning with something along the lines of, "I grew up in church and I was about six years old when I was saved, so I hadn't really done much wrong yet…"
Understandable – a six-year-old has disobeyed their parents a number of times, but certainly has not hit rock bottom and cried out for a Savior. I was seven years old when I got saved, which puts me in the same boat. How'd I understand I needed a Savior before I had even messed up parts of my life yet? Did Christ really change me?
I suppose it's easier to see the transformation in once-satan-worshippers-and-drug-dealers, for those testimonies show just how far God can reach to save His children. But how does a seven-year-old match up to stories like these?
Perhaps I should first clarify that the seven-year-old was born as much a sinner as the satan-worshipper, but is not yet old enough to have as many opportunities to take the wrong path. But they will, in time. When Jesus saved that seven-year-old girl, He may not have had to change as much – and reasonably so. He may have changed a few bad attitudes, made her a little more obedient, but He didn't have to do as much work for her, correct? Not quite. There may not have been much to change now, but far more change would come. You see, you may not think He did much change to a seven-year-old, but when Christ saved me, He did far more than change me. He changed my future. He cared not only who I was or who I had been, but who I would be. In the moment He saved me, He changed the mess I could be – before I ever had a chance to become it.
I don't know if you've ever thought of it that way, but often, I do. Many times, when I look at my life, I am haunted by the person I could easily have become. I see the direction my life may have gone and instantly, I open my eyes so I can no longer see it. The scariest thing to me is the possibility of it: the difference between me and many I've seen go down the wrong path is unfortunately not desire. I get that part. We are all tempted by satan's best-sellers. The single difference is conviction – the part where God tugs on my heart and says "You cannot do that – you know the consequences!" And you know where that conviction comes from? The moment that seven-year-old girl kneeled beside her bed and asked God to save her. That was when her heart opened so that God would have access to tug at her heart when she struggled with a decision. At the beginning of this article, I asked if God could really change a seven-year-old who was barely old enough to make many wrong decisions, and the answer is: immensely.
It's a different age and a different story for all of us – the way we came to welcome Christ into our lives. We often feel as if many testimonies are drowned out by the grandeur of action-packed, unbelievable transformations. Think of it: one of the greatest lives Christ changed was that of Saul (also known as Paul) – Saul's greatest crime was that he was persecuting Christians, literally a crime against God. In fact, in the story of his transformation, he was actually on his way to capture believers from the synagogue and take them as prisoners (Acts 9: 1-2). Yet, even in those worst moments of his character, Christ changed him. Saul was blinded so that God could literally and figuratively open his eyes. It is one of the most powerful testimonies we hear. But you know what's crazy? God changed Saul's future just as much as He changed mine – just as much as He changed yours. We have God's guidance and it's up to us to use it. Because no matter the testimony, by being saved, we were all given a better chance at life.
