A Life of Rebellion

When I was thirty-two years old, God rescued me from a life of complete rebellion. As a young girl, I got into drugs as well as many other things that I am too ashamed to share with anyone.  I wanted what I wanted immediately. I lived in the moment with no regard for the future. I was quite certain that I would die at a young age, so I might as well make the most of my life while I had the time.

While living in Florida in my late twenties, I was a bartender. Those that I worked with including myself would stay up all night and party after work. When the sun rose into the sky, we would scurry away from the light as a cockroach scurries away when the light turns on so they are not discovered.

 It was in Florida that God began to wake me up. I was not around any Christian. I did not attend any church at the time, but since God is the creator of all, He can use whatever He pleases to get someone’s attention. I decided to go back home to North Carolina. As the book of Proverbs says in chapter 26 verse 11, as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool returns to its folly. I certainly was the fool. Moving back to North Carolina just put me back in touch with the people that I used to hang out with and party. However, there was something going on in my heart that was quite different. I could no longer escape my hurts, feelings, doubts, etc. with the use of drugs. I found that when I did get high, I was paranoid and miserable.

I picture my transition from the kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light like this. Have you ever gone deep sea fishing? I picture God had me on the line, and He was just wearing me out. I was caught, but I had not submitted to Him yet but was going to be.   Being so rebellious, my precious Lord and Savior allowed me to tire myself out until I was willing to rely on Him.

In April of 1996, I became a child of God. He forgave me for all the evil that I have committed before Him. He chose to rescue me. When Jesus allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, He was making a legal transaction for His people. He was satisfying the Law of God. Only Jesus Christ could do that. All of us have broken God’s laws, all of us deserve His eternal punishment. There is none good, no not one. We all need to be rescued. Why? Because it is appointed once for man to die, then we are judged, and not judged by just anyone, we are judged by the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Creator of all, and the One who holds all things together. He is holy, there is no sin in Him. He can not even look upon it.

So, if you are standing before God the second your heart fails who is going to be your defense attorney? If you think about representing yourself, you might just want to rethink that. If you never repented of your sins, never trusted in Christ for His goodness, then you are in a terrible dilemma. First you will have an accuser Satan himself. He is going to throw you under the TRAIN.  There will be no hope if you ignored Jesus Christ during your life on earth because the Bible says that if you reject Him, He will on that day reject you.  Oh, please don’t wait. Time is short for all of us. The Bible says to confess our sins, to tell on ourselves to the Lord, then repent, make a U-turn, turn from living in rebellion to the word of God, and choose to obey Him and do things His way. Trust in Him. He takes His righteousness and place it on us, then He takes our sins upon Himself. Talk about love. That is the greatest love that there is.

He rescued me from my stinking, rotten, rebellious self. He rescued me from Hell because I was a lawbreaker. You see, I have lied, stolen, made idols in my heart to worship. I deserved His wrath, but instead, He lavished His love upon me when He took the punishment for my sins.

He has done that same thing for you. You can not do enough good things to go to heaven. You cannot buy your way into heaven. Your status in this world means nothing to God. Your status in Christ Jesus means everything.