I was born into a Christian family, but the Lord allowed me to wander down a long and winding path before I was able to see that being a Christian is the central reality of who I am. As a child growing up, I loved the Lord, I loved being with other young Christians, and I loved being a part of the local church in my city. When I got to college, however, I chose to see what else was out there. The local church was all I had ever known and I wanted to see what the rest of Christianity had to offer. For almost two years I hopped from church to church, trying denomination after denomination. I didn't know what I was looking for, I only knew that I wasn’t finding it. The months of wandering soon left me dry and vulnerable to all of the world’s temptations. By my third year of college I was fully immersed in the emptiness and vanity of the world, barely able to remember who I really was.

The summer before my senior year of college and also during my senior year, the Lord showed such mercy to me. I spent that summer in my hometown, where I plunged back into the local church. I realized that I was a dried-up raisin with no real life flowing in me. But back in the local church that summer and in the year that followed, I found again the river of life (Revelation 22:1; John 7:38)! This river and this life are just Christ. He is a real and living person, who wants to flow into me and out of me, to fill me up with Himself and make me living in Him. In the local church I began to enjoy and pursue after Christ again.

In the three years since my return to the local church, the Lord has again become so enjoyable to me. He is making His home in my heart day by day (Ephesians 3:17). Christ’s love surpasses all knowledge and the best way to know His love and His vast dimensions is with all the believers (Ephesians 3:18-19). Praise the Lord for the local churches. Here I am enjoying the living Christ filling me, even unto the fullness of God.

B. P.

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