Can You Remember the Joy of Your Salvation?

Psalm 51:12

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Do you remember the moment of your salvation?  The day you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

Some of us experience a sudden conversion.  Some of us a more subtle conversation.  Yet however we come to Christ  there must be a change and that change – the moment of our salvation – brings a great deal of joy.

I remember a man who was caught in all sorts of sin in his life.  He came to the church almost out of desperation – trying to find something that would give him a reason to live.  When the moment of his salvation came – months after he arrived at the church and God loved him into His arms – there was a dramatic shift in his behavior.  Sin no longer had a strangle hold on his life – oh he still fell from time to time but sin didn’t reign any longer.  He would stand before the church – often – and celebrate the new found freedom that he had found in Christ.  He had a new purpose in his life.  He was free from sin and had great joy.

I remember another person who had a more gradual conversion.  They grew up in the church.  They went to Sunday School and other ministries as they grew up.  Taking a bit of wording from John Wesley, one night at a revival service the church held their heart was strangely warmed.  It wasn’t as dramatic a change in their life as the previous person I mentioned.  They were basically a good person to begin with – they were only 12 – and although sin was present in their life – it didn’t have a strangle hold yet.  Yet even though they felt like they grew into their salvation – there was that moment when their faith became theirs and not their parent’s faith.  They were filled with joy and excitement as they felt this change in their life.

I’d like to say that both of these persons lived happily ever after and sinned no more but I can’t.  They still battled with sin in their lives.  The older man had to continue to battle the memory of sin – either it’s temptations or the residue of the evil that he lived before his conversion.  The young child had to go through the trying times know to us all as the teenage years.

Salvation doesn’t mean you will not sin anymore.  Salvation means that your sins are forgiven – that the full payment for your sins has been made by Christ on the Cross of Calvary.  Salvation means that you have turned from sin and turned to God – and even when your turning fails you – God is ever present to help pick you up and place you back on the right path.  His grace is sufficient to cover your sins.  Salvation is your relationship with God – a deep abiding relationship that is perfect on God’s part and a work in progress from our point of view.

But knowing that you are not perfect – simply forgiven – brings great joy – great peace.

So when you are down – beaten on by sin in your life – circumstances in your life – remember your salvation and be joyous.  Because you are a child of God – forgiven and blessed.

Psalm 51:12 – ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

And if you have yet to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior – do so today.  Confess that you are a sinner – lost without hope.  Ask Christ for the free gift of His grace – the forgiveness of your sins.  Ask Christ to enter your life – your heart – and to become your Lord and Savior – the Master of your life – the Savior of your eternity.  See if your heart is not strangely warmed – or even a dramatic shift in your life as you come to Christ’s loving arms.

Just something to think about today as you go on your way.