I grew up with a very powerful fear of death. I don’t remember how far back this started, but from my earliest memories I was very aware that I was going to die, and it scared me — pardon the pun, — to death. I remember as a seven or eight-year-old child lying in bed and thinking about what it will be like to die.

My family didn’t really go to church or talk about faith. I had a lot of questions about what happens to you after you die. However, my family really couldn’t answer most of my questions. This was a regular occurrence throughout my entire childhood.

When I was about 13 years old, I started to develop a relationship with my neighbors. They were a young couple without children who treated me like a little brother. They also had a very strong faith. One night, they came to my house and asked if they could have a quick conversation with me. They started to talk to me about Jesus and his death on the cross. I had never really had anyone explain to me about sin or my need for a Savior. I had a lot of questions. They dealt patiently with my questions and challenged to me about life and death. I was blown away. In a few minutes this couple answered the questions that I had spent years trying to find.

Later that night, after they left my house, I started thinking about what this couple said. It all made sense to me. I knelt by the side of my bed and admitted my need for a Savior. I prayed that God would help me find peace about dying. And I asked Jesus to save me.

The next morning when I woke up, I knew something was different inside of me. I couldn’t wait to get home from school the next day so that I could talk to my neighbors about my newfound faith. I didn’t really totally understand what it meant to be a Christian. I explained to my commitment to Jesus to my neighbors. They started taking me to church with them and helped me begin the journey of faith.

At the same time, God was miraculously dealing with my fear of death. From the moment that I totally surrendered to Jesus Christ I don’t think I have ever struggled with this fear of death again. I’m convinced that God supernaturally did away with my fear of dying, because I spent more than the next 20 years of my life in the United States Army. During those years of my life I was sent to combat on many occasions. I was in numerous firefights where it looked like I might die. In every one of those situations I had peace about death and the afterlife. Given my childhood, the only explanation for my peace in the face of death is my faith in Jesus Christ.

If you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, I want to give you the same opportunity that my next-door neighbors gave me at 13 years old. You can surrender to Jesus Christ and place in his hands all of those fears that you struggle with. It’s as easy as a simple prayer of faith. These words are easy to say but they don’t really matter unless they come from the heart. It’s sounds something like this:

Dear Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. I believe that you left Heaven and came to earth on my behalf. I also believe that you have supernatural power to heal my greatest struggles. Today I turned from my sin and trust you as my Savior for the first time. I ask you to change me from the inside out. From this moment forward I will follow you wherever you ask me to go. I will do whatever you ask me to do. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, and you really meant it, I’d like to challenge you to find a good Bible believing, Gospel preaching church near you. Go to the pastor and let him know that you just prayed to Jesus for the first time. Ask him to help you learn what it means to become one of Jesus’s disciples. God bless you.

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