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I was a rebellious teen and ran away from home at the age of 15 and went to California. I ended up back home within a year and found that my dad still wasn’t willing to “see things my way”. Go figure!

So when I turned 17, he agreed to sign for me to go into the army. I volunteered for the draft and served for 2 years. I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany for the first part of my service. Then I volunteered for Vietnam. I served the last 10 months of my duty in combat fighting in the jungles of Vietnam.

By the time I got home, my life was spiraling out of control with drugs and alcohol. I began selling drugs and was stoned every waking hour of my day. When I ran into a friend of mine who I used to sell drugs to and he told me he “got saved”, I said, “I’m happy for you Larry”. He was quite surprised because all of his other friends responded to him negatively, saying he had become a “Jesus freak” and they didn’t want anything to do with that “religious stuff.”

So he asked me, “Mike do you know what it means to be ‘saved’?” I said, “Yes. I’m saved too!” He said “Mike you’re not the kind of saved that I am!” (It was obvious to me he had been drastically changed.) And I said, “What do you mean?” (I was a little offended.) Then he said, “Mike, you are a drunkard, an adulterer, a blasphemer, and a liar, which the Bible says that no one who lives such a lifestyle can enter into heaven, therefore you are not ‘saved’. To be ‘saved’ means to be ‘born again’. And that only comes by repenting of your sins and placing your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. Born-again people follow Him and His teachings in their life and conduct.”

After talking to Larry, I became quite convicted of the life I had been living. After attending church with Larry a couple of times, I was convinced that I had broken God’s laws and that I was worthy of death and eternal separation from Him. So, one day after a church service I went home and got out my little box of stash, knelt down and lifted my hands toward heaven, and said, “Lord, I know that I have sinned against You and have broken Your laws but I ask You to forgive me based on what Jesus did for me on the cross. I place my faith in Him now to save me and restore me to the place of fellowship with You, which you have designed for all people. And if You will allow me to have Your peace in my heart, I will never touch this stuff again.” And I flushed my dope down the toilet and I have never touched it since that day, December 12, 1971.

We are not all that different as human beings. You may not have led the kind of life that I did, but we have all broken God’s law in some way. Let me ask you. Have you ever taken God’s name in vain? Have you ever lied? Have you ever coveted something that belonged to another? Have you ever had bitterness or hatred in your heart towards someone? Have you ever lusted for someone?

The Word of God says that if we have taken God’s name in vain we are blasphemers. If we have lied, we are liars. Jesus said if we have hatred in our hearts towards anyone, it is just like the sin of  murder, and if we have ever lusted in our hearts for someone it is the same as if we have committed adultery with them. So the bad news, according to God’s Holy Word, is that we have all broken His laws. No one is perfect and sinless.

“As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

What each and every one of us deserves is death and spiritual separation from God for all of eternity!

“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23

But at the end of this last verse that I quoted, there is hope for all of us. It is the remedy for our dire situation!

“…But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

Jesus took our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross. And if we are willing to turn from our way to God’s way and place our faith in Him and what He did for us, we can have eternal life. You might be asking, “What should I do about my situation?” Do what the scripture tells us to do:

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Commit your life to Jesus Christ today, and begin to follow Him by reading the Bible and doing what it says. Find a good Bible-believing church where you can meet with other believers and grow in your relationship with Christ.

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