Countdown to 30: Day 30

I am going to start with the post that if I was prioritizing the list building up to what has shaped me most would fall on Day 1. I feel like it is a good place to start because it forms the foundation for all of the other posts. In some ways it also allows me to build up the suspense for the rests of the posts because the one that most people would guess is the most life-changing is first, so what else am I going to write about?!

I became a Christian at a very young age. I think I was five, but I may have been as young as four. I remember the event vaguely, and I think it is a good thing that the memory is kind of fuzzy. I do not have security in my salvation based upon an emotional experience that I had as a five year old, although I am confident that my salvation dates back to that time. Instead, my security comes from being able to see how God has worked in my life from that time to the present.

The gospel has shaped my life from that time forward. I am fortunate to have learned at a very young age the important principles of the gospel. I knew that God was a holy God because I heard God preached about and taught about and I sung Holy, Holy, Holy. I knew that God did not like it when I disobeyed Him. I learned the different ways that I disobeyed God from Sunday school teachers, preachers, and my parents. I knew that I was a sinner and I hated my sin. I knew that Jesus loved me and came to die in my place on the cross even though He had not sinned. I knew that Jesus had risen from the dead. I knew that I had to be sorry about my sins, love God, and turn away from my sins and towards God. I knew all of that at five. I did not fully understand what I was doing, and I do not fully understand to this day my salvation. I do know that God changed my life that day, and that I am who I am today because of the change in my life. This change of heart at a young age has shaped who I am today. Twenty-five years later, I can see how God has blessed my life because of my obedience as a five year old.