It is difficult to pinpoint the precise moment of my salvation. As a small child, I prayed that precious prayer with complete faith in God above to free me from sin and save my soul. Today as I hold this pencil, I pray a regretful prayer and beg the Lord to forgive me of the sin that drives me to the edge of damnation. As for the years in between, they are a combination of the same. The mountain tops where I soared, the pits where I soured. The deserts where I thirsted, the seas where I thought I would drown. These are the tools God has used on His forge to mold me into what I am.
I have stood behind the pulpit with an infusion of the Holy Ghost that was plainly evident to those who were there to witness me speak the Word of God. I have stolen the money painstakingly saved to buy Christmas presents from the ones who gave me life. I have prayed in the streets with the homeless pleading with God for their lives, and I've sat in the same room with children while smoking a glass pipe filled with white death.
The Bible says a man must believe in Christ to be saved and I have spent my life believing in Christ. However, that does not assure my salvation because Lucifer himself most definitely believes in Christ and yet he will spend eternity in hell. For the Bible also reads that a man cannot serve two masters, and as Lucifer serves only himself, this secures his fate for all time. As for those of us who do not do the will of God, we then do the will of the prince of darkness and serve only ourselves. For that is his will to separate us from God. I have done both the will of Jehovah and the will of Satan in my short years on this earth and I cannot put into words the vast difference between the two, although I'll try.
To serve God is to have peace within. It doesn't mean you will be rich in worldly things. It doesn't mean you will have unending happiness. It doesn't mean you will never have pain. It means that you have a purpose. It means that to worry is groundless because you are part of the Plan. It means that whatever pain and sorrow you suffer, Jesus has been there-done that and whatever fears you may have you won't have to face them alone because He is the Ultimate Comforter and He will never leave your side.
To serve Satan is to have unending conflict within. It doesn't mean you will be rich in worldly goods. It doesn't mean you will have unending happiness. It doesn't mean you will never have pain. It means that you are selfish. It means no matter the pain you bring to others, you receive the temporary illusion of satisfaction in your life. It means when the sin in your life catches up with you, you will face the devastation alone because the one you serve is yourself and the one you follow will abandon you when he has used you up and no longer needs you.
And yet, as vast a chasm it is that exists between these two worlds, there is always a Hand stretched out in love and that Hand belongs to Jesus Christ. The choice is ours to take it but even if refused, it remains steadfast and willing, hoping for a change of heart. As many times as I have fallen, that Hand has always been there to pull me back up. So I urge you to clasp that Hand of forgiveness and experience the salvation of Christ for yourself.
As for me, I believe salvation comes not simply from a belief in Christ (as Satan's example proves) but in a daily striving to do God's will as shown by the Holy Spirit. This is my salvation-not the teaching of any man; nor the following of any pastor but the living Word of God who is Christ Jesus!
God bless you,
Ken Z. Scott