What's your next step?

What's your next step? That's been then theme of youth group these days. The last topic we discussed is the next step may be evangelism and sharing your story.
In Sunday School yesterday, I gave the teens the opportunity to tell us their story. I went first. Here's my story:

I grew up and a Christian home. One time in elementary school, I had asked my mom if I was going to heaven and she told me I had accepted Jesus into my heart when I was little. So when people asked me how I got saved, I would tell them that I was saved when I was little but that I didn't really remember it, but I knew I was saved. Throughout middle school and ninth grade, I wasn't serious about God. I was a Christian Sundays and Wednesday nights, but not the rest of the week.

Two things changed this.

First, the worst kid I knew (like seriously the worst person I had ever met) told me I had a bad mouth. I was shocked and disagreed, but later started thinking about the testimony (or lack thereof) I was. The second thing was getting a new youth pastor at our church in August of '99 and him taking a group of us on a trip to Blueberry Mountain Bible Camp. That week I saw how people lived out the things we talked about at church. It was eye-opening for me.

I didn’t have some rededication ceremony or anything, but I started getting serious about God. However I was constantly questioning/wondering if I was really saved or not. First of all I didn't remember it and secondly could a little kid really understand and really mean what they were doing? I tried to push the doubts out of my head, but couldn’t. I decided I should talk to someone about it, but I didn't know who. I didn't want people to think I was not saved or hypocritical about my salvation.

At the end of that week, I went to a Relient K concert. The chorus of the one song they sang was "Never underestimate my Jesus, you're telling me there's no hope, I'm telling you you're wrong. Never underestimate my Jesus, when the world around you crumbles He will be strong, He will be strong." I realized that through my doubts, I had been underestimating Jesus. I knew that the only person I needed to talk to was Jesus. The next morning, Nov 16, 2002, I took sometime and prayed. I may have been saved before but that is the first time that I was 100% sure without any doubts that I was going to heaven. Since then, there have been ups and downs in my life, but it is always evident that Christ is by my side helping me along.