A Heritage Of Faith

How did you get here as a follower of Jesus? Have you ever stopped to consider all God did in bringing you to salvation. Of course we must start with Jesus' death on the cross. Without that sacrifice none of us would be saved.
We would have to move on to suffering of those early saints. Many died as martyrs because they maintained their convictions in the midst of horrible suffering. Most of the apostles died violently yet they remained true. The passed on the heritage of faith to others. The persecution continued as the Catholic Church arose and strangled the gospel. God did not flinch. He raised reformers like Martin Luther to break the stranglehold and bring the church back to the Bible. At this period in history there we no English Bibles. Again God worked raising the likes of Tyndale and Wycliffe to accomplish this herculean task. How much do we owe to their tireless resolve to get an English translation for the common people even though they broke the law of the land in doing so. They suffered for the blessing we enjoy freely today.
You would also have to consider those brave pilgrims who left the shores of England to courageously accept the challenges of a new world founded on religious freedom. That new world eventually became the United States. God worked through powerful men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whifield to kindle a spiritual wakening. Those passed the baton to other stalwarts of the faith like Francis Asbury, Charles Finney, D.L. Moody, Bily Sunday and Vance Havner who proclaimed the gospel. The nation grew and so did churches all over the land. Another great awakening came in the mid 1800's fanning the flames of faith even further.
Somewhere and through someone God saved preachers, grandparents, parents, teachers in Sunday school and VBS, aunts, uncles along with friends and neighbors. They testified about their salvation and the heritage of faith continue to spread. Eventually that heritage came to someone close to ou. Someone shared with you the timeless message of Jesus. By faith you repented of sin and trusted Jesus for salvation. With thatHe wrote your name in the Lamb's book of I life.
When I think about all God did to get me to Him I'm humbled. I want to give Him my best and my all. "All to Jesus I surrender - all to Him I freely give..." I hope you want to do the same. May the heritage of our faith continue to be passed on to those after us.