Today is a sort of milestone for me. Little could I have imagined when I started my blog on June 24, 2020, that today’s devotion would mark my 1,000th posting. Thanks to my retirement from full time work, back in March 2020, I have been able to not miss a day of posting.
My prayer from the beginning of my daily devotional has always been that each post would help you fall more in love with Jesus and the Bible. Along the way I have met many wonderful Christians who have encouraged me and helped me fall more in love with our Savior.
Before I share today’s devotion I would greatly appreciate any feedback on my website, both positive and negative, and if there are any topics you might like to see me cover in a future devotion.
On October 12, 1981, a great miracle took place. For you see that was the day that salvation came to a lonely and lost soul named Curt Blattman. And while I am beyond grateful, that the Lord would save a sinner like me, I often wonder why me?
For much of my teen years I was an atheist and knew little about the Bible and even less about who Jesus was. And the last thing on my mind was ever becoming a Christian. I held an evolutionary worldview and believed the Bible was a book of fairytales for the gullible. To put it bluntly I had no desire to believe in the Bible, which I saw only as a crutch for those who were weak minded.
Today I look back on that time and wonder why God would ever want to save a rebel like me. I never believed God existed, never sought after Him, and yet here I am today posting this 1,000th devotion on not only His existence but the love affair I have with Jesus. The only answer I can come up with is that God’s love and the prayers of the saints for me were able to overcome my staunch unbelief.
But in reality unbelief in one form or another is the state that all of us were in before we came to Jesus. For we read in (Ephesians 2:1-5): “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Notice in these verses it says two times that we were dead in our transgressions, and all of us deserved the wrath of God. Not only that but we read in (Romans 3:10-11): “… As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.’” My friends, you see there is no one who seeks after God. It’s all about God taking the initiative and seeking after us.
I believe in my case, looking back, that God did several things to bring me to salvation. First, He orchestrated the circumstances that led me to hear the gospel message. Second, He began to woo me to Himself. Third, the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sins. And fourth, I strongly believe, various Christians were praying for my coming to faith. Without a doubt God was actively working in my life to open my blind eyes, breaking my pride, showing me, I was a sinner, and performing spiritual surgery on my stone-cold dead heart.
If God can save a lost soul like me, I am convinced that even those we consider far away from Jesus, can be redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Our role is to share the gospel and pray for the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of those we want to come to Christ.
As for me, God’s love was so great, and the prayers of the saints, for the conviction of my sins, must have been so overwhelming, that this combination performed a miracle in my heart by transforming my unbelief into saving faith. Why me? Rather than try to fully understand it, I choose to leave this mystery in God’s hands, and just praise Him every day for this miracle called salvation that He granted to me – a most unlikely convert.
“I often wonder why me?“
If you are among the elect of God, nothing will come between you and salvation. God will orchestrate it like a person playing 4D chess.
Think of the lineage that led to Jesus’ birth. It included prostitutes, adulterers, and a gentile woman who had no idea how their lives would be part of the history of redemption.
The following link is to an old classic song that asks the same question, “Why me.” You may remember it.
https://youtu.be/mBADk6dmGMI
Congratulations! I have been with you since the beginning of this year. The Lord working through you has blessed me, and I am sure countless others. Keep up the great work!
Thank you for sharing your testimony, and God’s journey for you. Brought me back some years. Having been raised catholic, I never called myself an ‘atheist’ — but I sort of was. Growing up in the middle of feminism and denying the Bible…. I was a mess, lifted up by Grace. Thank you for your 1,000 postings !