I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart when I was 6 years old. This was about a year after my father had become a Christian and we had started attending church regularly as a family. For many years as a child, a teenager and an adult, I heard Preachers talk about how evil they had been before Jesus changed them. I thought, "Boy, I wasn't like that!" I didn't have an exciting story of evil deeds, crime or a bad home life. I was just an ORDINARY Christian. NO ONE WOULD WANT TO HEAR MY STORY.
I went to College and even to Graduate School and nothing changed. I became involved in a full time Church Ministry because it had been expected of me from an early age. Later I realized that I had not been called to be a Preacher but had been called to be a good Christian. There have been many times in my life when God has been disappointed in me. I have not always been the kind of person that God wants me to be. But, HE still loves me and many times has to cause obstacles to come into my life to get my attention.
For example: After leaving the formal church ministry, I became a Police Officer. At one point I was becoming a very angry person. One Sunday, while directing traffic at a football game, I made a serious mistake. It was at that point that I realized I was heading down a destructive path. The next Sunday I went to my church and asked the congregation to pray that God would help me overcome a problem in my life. They did and HE DID. In fact at the next football game I was struck by a car and God gave me seven months to reflect on my life and His goals for me. It was still not His will for me to become a preacher but it was His will for me to become a better example for Him.
I have made many mistakes since that time but God has always been there to pick me up, brush me off, and say "I still love you. Try again." HE has given me many opportunities to speak for Him in small ways. I once crashed my Police Motorcycle on the way to a fire. When my partner got to me, he was amazed to find me alive and could not believe that I was conscious and talking to him. I told him that God was with me. He jokingly replied, "Were you trying to kill him?" The message was still there without preaching or forcing my views on him.
Now I have retired and volunteer as a Police Chaplain. I still make mistakes, but,God is always there to point them out and to forgive me. The point is I fail and HE forgives. All I had to do to get this great love was to trust in Jesus, believing that He is God's Son and to invite Him into my heart. BECAUSE HE CARES, HE is there to pick me up when I fall or fail. HE will do the same for you.