God's Gift

Today is a special day for me.  In 1956 as a six-year-old little boy, I was attending a revival meeting at Maple View Baptist Church.  Rev. Gwen Blackburn preached a powerful message and I was under Holy Spirit conviction.  My friend, Miles Howell, sitting beside me was trying to convince me that I needed to go forward.  I just couldn’t do it.  Our pastor noticed the commotion and came back to me.  He asked if I wanted to be saved and said I did.  Pastor Blackburn gave me a quarter and said, “This is for you,” and offered me the quarter.  I took it.  Then he said, “Gerald, salvation is like that quarter.  I offered it and you took it.  It was a free gift.  And God’s gift of salvation is free for you to take.”  That evening, April 17, 1956, I took God’s offer of salvation that He had for me.  As a six-year-old, I knew that I was a sinner, and God saved my soul and gave me a home in heaven.  I was spiritually born into God’s forever family.  Hey, you can know for sure that you’re on your way to heaven too.  Paul said in Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  That sounds pretty sure, doesn’t it?  Then Paul goes on to say in verse 13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Hey, just like a six-year-old boy, you can KNOW that you are in God’s forever family.  What a wonderful, powerful concept.  Hey, accept God’s gift of salvation.  It’s free.  Free, free, free.