I have come to the conclusion I will forever consider myself a new Christian. This is because when I think of other Christians. .. I assume they know far more than myself. And possibly the fact I was not raised in the church there is this sense maybe that I am not a real one.
I still do not belong to a church. Most churches I have tried contain far too much religion. But nonetheless this should not be measured by my level of faith, which through the years, through the trials of life, has become unshakable.
As I said I was not raised in the church but was exposed to one or two now and again. Therefore even as a teen while I seemed to have questions in my head regarding Christ, when the topic would turn to anything biblical I would take a back seat. My knowledge was dismal. In fact it was so atrocious I have a clear memory of being caught out as a child due to my lack of knowledge. I was in the basement of a neighbor’s house and we were singing Christmas carols while her sister played the piano. It was Silent Night. One of my favorite… I belted out the words with passion. Problem was…. there is no line in the song that says “vinegar, mother and child”. How did I know? I was about 10… if that, and had never heard the word virgin let alone knew what one was. But the piano stopped. I mean you can imagine the incredulous stares as her sister said….”what did you say” ? I suddenly realized back in the day of Christ’s birth they were not calling to bring round vinegar.
The point here though is I now work for a Christian organization. Through my fellowship with co workers along with my own passion for studying and learning thank goodness I do know a bit more since the vinegar days. And perhaps one of the greatest nuggets of wisdom I have picked up is that if nothing else… God wants your heart first and foremost. If he has your heart all other things will follow.
I did not apply to a Christian organization because I was a Christian and wanted to work for one… the appeal of the job was that I would have an opportunity to help people; that my efforts and success would feed local families. I had worked too many years for the Conrad Black Southam Newspaper organization and was tired of the slave labor to deepen the already deep pockets of one of the largest newspaper moguls, while our staff went year after year with no raises, less staff and more work.
What is amazing to me now, is to discover that everything we want to know… every answer we seek is in the bible. Even my terrible habit of procrastination can be found in the bible. And the other day a co worker and myself were chatting over lunch… her story was right out of Exodus. When the Lord sought out Moses to speak to Pharoh to free the Israelites. Moses was like “me… you want me to do that… not me, pick someone else.” Sound familiar to anyone?
And here I am now…. the kid who sang Vinegar mother and child, working for a Christian charity, speaking His word on a daily basis, praying for people and with people. And I am so delighted He did not pick someone else. It is amazing that with faith God will put you precisely where you need to be.
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