‘I believe that when we accept the claims of Jesus on our lives he never forsakes us, even when we stray’.
This has proved to be the Christian experience of church member, John McKay, as he explains: I was converted, baptised and received into membership of a Baptist church 50 years ago.
‘Four years after joining the church, I felt that God was calling me into some form of full-time Christian service, so I left Shetland and trained as a youth and community worker at a Glasgow college. I worked in this capacity in an Anglican and then a Methodist church for a number of years, before moving into administration. In the end I was an education advisor for South Tyneside for 17 years.
Unfortunately, all these posts required a great deal of evening and weekend involvement and I drifted away from regular attendance at a place of worship and from Christian fellowship.
Then, 21 years ago I was diagnosed with cancer, which I believe was sent by God, because it made me realise how much I had strayed from my initial profession of faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and his church. But I also realised that I could come back to him, whether or not he healed me of the cancer.
Jesus did heal me and, since that time, he has led me in his service, which has included work as a courier with the missionary organisation, Open Doors to China, and a number of visits to Sri Lanka in support of a Christian pastor and his family.
The Lord also gives me strength for everyday living. I believe that when we accept the claims of Jesus on our lives, he never forsakes us even when we stray. Speaking of his people Jesus said, ‘My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand’ (John 10:27).
John McKay
