My friend, Josiah DeGraaf wrote this really amazing testimony. He's an author, and has a website on Weebly. Please check it out at: aratrea.weebly.com
A man walking up the hill strains underneath the weight of his burden and falls down, unable to carry it. Another man carries it up for him. The man is then pierced with nails through the palms of his hands and his feet. Nailed to a cross, he looks down at the crowd below him and...prays mercy for them. This is my Lord Jesus Christ on Golgatha on that day. Stricken, smitten, and afflicted. Now dying on the cross. A painful, shameful death on the cross. Why? So that those who hate him might be reconciled to him and not live in torment forever more. This is my God, of whom I serve. This is my Savior, who died for me.
My friend Deanna Y. wrote this great C.T.T. (Christian Teen Testimony). This is a really great lesson for us all.
I enjoy writing. It’s what I do. Reading is also a great hobby of mine. I also have a hobby that is not so common, memorizing. It doesn’t matter what it is, numbers, quotes, poems. I love memorizing. I once found a twenty minute long poem by Lewis Carroll, called Phantasmagoria and decided to memorize it. I spent hours memorizing this pagan poem. Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice poem, but I spent all this time on it for no particular reason other than the fact that then I could say that I have a twenty minute long poem memorized. I was praying one day and all of a sudden it hit me, why was I spending all that time on a stupid poem when I could be putting God’s Word in my heart. Why would a silly little poem be more important? The Bible says to hide God’s Word in you heart, and from that day I knew I should be doing that. From then on when ever I found a verse that really spoke to me I memorized it. It never takes me long, five minutes if the verse is short, a week or so if it’s a whole chapter. Then I can be riding the bus or walking down the hall, and suddenly one of my verses pops into my head, and guides me in my day. You want to know the one that pops up the most? “Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure; children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars of the universe.” Philippians 2:14-15. Think about it. How many times a day do you complain? How often do you get involved in arguments that don’t really matter? God tells us right there not to do it, yet somehow I find a way to violate that verse almost everyday, but memorizing it makes it stick. Why do you think that you had to memorize the Ten Commandments when you were little? So you KNEW them. You weren’t just told them or referred to them. They are tangible in your mind when you know them inside and out. Spread your mind over the Word and find verses that really mean something to you. Get to know the Bible. I was just telling Katie earlier today about a test I’m going to have on Julius Caesar, the play by William Shakespeare. The test consists of 100 quotes from the play. I have to write the Act they are in and which Scene they are in, who said them, and how they are significant to the rest of the play. Do I know that many quotes from the Bible as well? Enough to say their exact location, who said them, and why they are important? Maybe. Do you? I challenge you to know God’s Word inside and out. Hide the Bible in your heart and never let it leave you. Use your talents, whether it be memorizing or singing or talking or doing things with your hands or listening, to learn more about Him and spread his love in the World. I challenge you, and I hope you challenge yourself as well.
