Set Free

Set Free Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

John opened his well-worn Bible and said, "Hey everyone. I'm glad you all made it here tonight. It's a blessing to be able to speak to you all. So, let me tell you what our lesson is about tonight. To put it plain and simple, it's about hypocrites. And it's a probably a fact that a few of you here, or maybe even more than that, fall into that category. So tonight let's fix that, if possible, alright?"

Everyone said "Yeah!" enthusiastically.

Trying to ignore my jealousy, I put myself into listening closely as John began his lesson, but at the same time I couldn't help but notice how weird it felt to be at church alone. This was the very first time for me. I'd only come to church before in the first place to be with Justin more. And I'd only became a Christian to make Justin happy. It was all fake. Not real. I hadn't meant any of it and I'd thought that I was fine the way I was. And it's not like Justin had asked me to become a Christian or anything, but I'd known that he wanted it more than anything else. Because I knew that that was the only problem he had with our relationship. So I decided to fake a revelation, and get saved. Problem fixed. Or had it been?

Truthfully, I'd always thought that I wasn't the religious 'type'. But now, everything had changed and everything was different. I was different. So as I listened to John's every word  in order to keep myself from thinking about Nick and why he was with Justice, I found that his words made me curious. Somehow, what he was speaking of seemed familiar. It kind of sounded like.....what I had done for Nick. So I was a.....hypocrite?

I kept intently listening to John and was shocked to hear that apparently God cared about me personally.  And He had sent His son down to this earth to die for me. And all I had to do to recieve his forgiveness for my sins was to say I was sorry and ask to be saved? Could it really be that simple? I listened for the catch, but I found that there was none. All I had to do was invite Jesus in and then I had a placed saved for me in Heaven. And I would have someone to cry to when there was no one around. I was captured and shaken by this, and I felt something inside my heart say simply, "I want that. ". I felt something deep and powerful, and I realized, it was God, beckoning to me. So, I realized, He is real. I was wonderstruck.

Then I began to cry quietly, there in that back row of the youth room that Wednesday night, not caring who saw my tears. Because I had a real reason to cry now. I was crying over something much more eternally important than, even Justin.

I needed God. I knew that now. After all these months, all this endless time, I found myself finally beginning to understand what Justin and my parents had been so fired up about. This was the answer. To absolutely, entirely, wholely, everything.

So when John finished his message and began the invitation time, asking if anyone wanted to come up and accept Christ and be prayed with, I stood up without a second thought and walked up to John on the stage with a few other people trailing behind me. And I cried and cried and cried.

John whispered to me, "Are you ready for Him to set you free?"

I nodded through my endless cascade of tears.

So he helped me pray and I invited Jesus into my heart and accepted Him as my Lord and personal Savior. As soon as I was finished, I felt an incredible sense of peace come over my heart, my soul, and my mind. It enveloped me and it was astounding.

I knew this was the feeling that everyone searched for their whole lives from birth to death, the one that Nick had told me about that day iI had found him in the park.

I had finally found it. Or, at least, finally given in to it.

And now, I couldn't stop smiling.