I was raised in a good home by a wonderful mom and dad who loved me and taught me right from wrong.  They were wonderful parents and made sure that I was well behaved and respectful, however they were not particularly faithful church goers.  I remember that we would go to church 3 or 4 Sundays in a row and then for whatever reason we would not go back for a few months.  Although I rarely got into trouble at school or anything I certainly did not know much about the bible or anything like that.

One Sunday morning, I was 12 years old at the time; my family went to church and for the first time that I can ever remember I heard the preacher say that no matter how good you are you can never be good enough to go to heaven.  He went on to explain that we are all sinners and that our sin separates us from God, who is too holy to just overlook our sin.  He said that the only way for us to be made right with God was to ask Jesus to come into our lives and to ask Jesus to forgive us for our sin.

I knew that God was speaking directly to me, compelling me to come to Him so that I could be forgiven and made right with Him.  Now, I was only 12 years old and certainly did not know much about God but I knew that I needed Him.  I knew that even though I was a good kid I was not perfect and I needed forgiveness.  That day I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin and I asked Him to come into my life.

I was just a child then but I guess I could not explain it to you any better today than I could at 12 years old.  It was as though I had been carrying a heavy weight with me for so long that I did not even think about it any more and when I asked for forgiveness that weight was taken away from me.  My sin was forgiven and I was made right with God.