I don’t have a dramatic or magical testimony. I was brought up in a Christian home. I attended church regularly and read the Bible occasionally. I thought I was a Christian because I did all the stuff that Christians do. But, deep down, I didn’t have peace in my heart.
At one point during my early teens, everywhere I went there was someone who was talking about God.
I absolutely hated it, I didn’t want God and was running away from him. But the message about God’s love kept coming to me through various different means, like Christian television programmes and Christian friends.
I remember watching a Christian television programme one morning and this verse became personal to me: ‘Behold, l stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and lets me in, I will come and dine with him’ (Revelation 3:20).
I realised that Jesus had been knocking at the door of my heart through all these times and I was running away from him.
The message also became clear to me that God loves me so much and he sent his Son, Jesus, to take away my punishment. I can receive this gift of forgiveness by putting my trust in Jesus. I just knelt down and asked God to forgive my sins and thanked the Lord Jesus for taking my punishment.
I felt a huge burden lifted from me and peace which I didn’t know earlier filled my heart. After that, I had a desire to know more about this Jesus. So I started to read the Bible. Verses like ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ interested me to learn more about him.
Then my Bible reading time became real and going to church became a happy time, rather than a ‘to do’ list trying to feel spiritually good or make God happy. This is how my journey as a Christian began, and I thank you for reading it.
Janaki Velmurugan
