I needed a heart transplant

Ephesians 2:19-20

As a Jr. High student a light began to turn on for me about my status in life, I was not poor in that we always had food and clothing, but my family was not in the same financial league as the neighborhood behind our house.  One street over were much larger houses with brick veneer and nice cars, and some had people to take care of their yards, many of them gave their children ten dollars a month for doing nothing; I was a stranger and alien to that way of life.  I had no understanding of how a person could obtain that way of life, unless they worked hard and were smart enough to go to college and maybe they would be able to have that life-style.   

As I stated before, I was a Baptist before I was born, my mother had sighed me up in what was called cradle roll, before I came into this world, and I, like many others my age who had Baptist parents, had gold stars for perfect attendance.  We walked to church on Sundays, both morning and evening services, and to Wednesday night prayer meeting, and anytime there was a revival meeting or a workday, we were there.  From our house on Liberty drive, to that little Baptist church in Ebony Acres, it was over two and a half miles. My mother made that walk with three small children both ways, unless someone took mercy on us.  I do remember the dread of making that walk in bad weather and at night. 

I was Baptist, in fact at the age of thirteen, I walked down the aisle of Ebony Acres Baptist Church and it was my passageway to becoming an official member of the Baptist Church, I was no longer an outsider, I had my name on the roll and I was sure that God was very impressed, my mother surely was, now she could sleep better, all of her children were Baptist.  One small problem, I was a Baptist that was on my way to hell, I was not a new creation in Christ nor had my sins been forgiven. 

At the age of 27, it became clear that nothing had changed in my life, and I needed a heart transplant, I was still on the outside looking in at people whose life had been transformed by the blood of Christ.  God used five men in a Wednesday Bible study to open my eyes to the fact that I was a stranger and alien and was not in the household of God.  One night in Victoria, Texas, I ask Jesus Christ to forgive me for trying to take His place, and acknowledged that He was my only hope of finding a new heart, my only hope of having abundant life,  By His grace and the faith He gave me to believe, I entered into Christ, He became my cornerstone, His Spirit entered into my heart and I found membership in the household of God.  That is what these verses are all about; I am a work in progress, a dwelling place for God by His Spirit.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice