The year of Nostalgia

 

Colossians 2:6

In my lifetime it seems that this year has been the year of nostalgia.  On the Internet people are talking about how great life was in the fifties, many are saying they wished they could return to the simple life of their childhood.  I must testify it was an easier life, and for those who had families it seems that they spent more time together.  But I must tell you that waking up with the sheets wet from your on sweat, is one thing I have no desire to return to.  It is enjoyable to think back to times in your past and recall many things, but given the choice, most of us would not return because we have grown accustomed to the technology of our time.

As a Christian, should we go back in our minds to recall how we were introduced to Christ?  Should we return to the events, which led up to our first meeting, and all the people God used to arrange it?  It might be of interest to understand that if you were consciously looking for Christ, or if the encounter seemed to come without any effort, or desire on your part.  How this may not be what many call Salvation, I’m talking about going back to your first encounter with Christ.  How did you act, did His presence make you want to follow Him or did you hear another voice that said not today, there is time for that later.

For me, later became 27 years, and reflecting back on those years, they were built around self, what I could get, and many bad habits and broken promises, and I became very fearful of the future.  You might ask, did I go hunting for Christ at this stage of my life and the answer is no, He came after me.  He sent my barber who had cut my hair for many years, and was what I considered a real man who seemed to be successful in all the areas I wasn’t.  I had noticed a change in him, but was not prepared for his invitation to a Bible study on that Wednesday.  I did not know that my barber, Bob had encountered Christ, and Christ in my barber was going to call me into an eternal relationship.

In Colossians 2:6, we read; “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”  Six months later after attending that Bible study and telling myself that I needed to get a new barber,  most Wednesdays I was sitting with those men in a Bible study.  One night in a motel in Victoria, Texas I read Romans 10:9 and I by the faith that God gave me acted on that faith, and once more I encountered Christ, but this time I bowed my knee and my heart to this great King of Kings, and entered into a relationship with Christ.

How did I receive Christ, and what did I bring to the party?  I did not bring one thing, but I exchanged fear for peace, hate for love, and Christ began to send others to show me how to abide in him.  I am still, at times, foolishly trying to live this Christian life in my own ability, only to once more be reminded by Christ that He alone has the ability to live the Christian life, it is His life lived in and through me.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice