Jesus is Lord of My Life

All my life I only cared about myself—how I could get what I wanted, whether it was my own way, money or held in high esteem. There were many years when money was my god and; when money is your god, there is no such thing as enough. When alcohol became my god, I couldn’t get enough. As a result I hurt many people never caring who or how bad I hurt them.

Then one day I found myself hopeless and lost. I was in a maximum security cell all alone. My gods were gone; I had no one to call and no one who cared. The rest of my time in prison lay ahead of me. I was lost, abandoned and, not only unloved, but unlovable. In my cell I had nothing but a Bible. As I began to read, I wanted to believe that there was a God, a God who loved me, who cared for me. I wanted to believe that God gave his Son for me and would forgive all my wrong, one who would wipe away my tears and all my hurts. But this couldn’t be. After all I was unlovable.

Somewhere in the hours and days that passed I found one piece of hope after another until I had gone from unbelief to wanting to believe to knowing that this God was the one true God. God loved me . He not only loved me but he paid the debt for everything that stood between us. As I sat on the floor of that maximum security cell crying out to God, asking for forgiveness for all I had done, that day Jesus became LORD of my live. Burdens were lifted off of me. My guilt was determined and death was my penalty, but, praise God, that debt was paid-in-full when Jesus said, “He belongs to me, I’ll pay that debt with my life.”

Jesus took my heart of stone and gave me a brand new heart, one that was soft and workable. He gave me a heart that He could shape and mold into one just like His own. Today I live a brand new life. I no longer do the things I once did, I no longer say the things I once said and I no longer even think the thoughts I once thought. One thing that hasn’t changed is that I can’t get enough of my God!

Darrell — Originally published in September 2003