Thursday, October 23, 2003

We just finished celebrating our grandson's fifth birthday. We didn't forget it, and he wouldn't let us forget it. This boy knew his birthday when he was two years old. It's a big deal to him, and to us. My wife and I will never forget the day he was born - we were there. We waited outside that birthing room, then we got the word that he was in the process of arriving, and then we got the summons to come in and see him. One of life's ultimate "Kodak moments." And suddenly a day that had been just another number on the calendar before became one of the most special days in our life from then on!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Missing Birthday."

Our grandson knows when he was born. You know when you were born - even if you've got so many candles on your cake now that it sets off the smoke detector. Basic fact of life: your life had a definite beginning. There was a point in time at which you were born into your family.

It's the same in God's family. If you belong to Him, there was a definite beginning to that relationship - a time when you were born into His family. You may or may not remember the specific date, but you need to know there was one. Listen to how Jesus describes our entrance into God's family. It's in John 1:12 , our word for today from the Word of God. Speaking of Jesus, it says, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." Born, into the family of God, at the point where you consciously welcome Jesus into your life.

You'll hear people say, "We're all God's children." Not according to the Bible. We're all God's creation, but you're only His child if you've been born into His family. And that happens at the point where you recognize your desperate need of Jesus and you throw open the door of your life and let Him in - you "receive" Him. And obviously, if you've done that, you know you've done it. If you don't know that you have, you probably haven't. If you asked me if I'm married and I said, "Well, I'm not sure" or "I think we must have gotten hitched somewhere along the way," you'd say, "Man, if you're married, you know you're married! It's a conscious decision!"

So is turning over your life to Jesus Christ. It happens when you realize that you are away from God because you've done your life your way instead of God's way, and you decide it can't be that way anymore. You recognize that your only hope of being forgiven, your only hope of heaven is Jesus and the dying He did for your sins on the cross and His coming back from death. And you reach out and you grab Him like a drowning person would grab a lifeguard and you say, "You're my only hope, Jesus!" Has there been a time when you did that with Him? If you don't know, you probably don't belong to Him - yet. But you could today.

This could be the day when you do what you've somehow missed all these years. You agree with Jesus. You've gone to Jesus' meetings. You believe Jesus' beliefs. You try to live Jesus' way, but somehow you've never consciously given yourself to the one who gave His life for you. But once again, He's knocking on the door of your heart, giving you one more chance to belong to Him. Why don't you get this settled once and for all - today! Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm Yours beginning today!" You will finally experience the unspeakable joy of knowing Him for real. If you're ready to finally begin your relationship with Him, I hope you'll let me send you my booklet about it called "Yours For Life." I just need to know that you want it.

And for the rest of your life, and for all eternity, you can celebrate this as your birthday - the day you really were born in to the family of God. This can be your Jesus-day!