On December 24th, 1995, I walked down the aisle of my church, in front of my friends and family...As they say "In front of God and everyone". I knelt, closed my eyes and opened my heart. I honestly could not tell you how long I was there..seconds or minutes.. But in that time, I felt such a spectrum of emotions.. It seemed I relived every sin I'd ever committed, and the total shame of KNOWING He had seen and felt EVERY one of those sins... I relived the lies I'd told, the hurt I'd caused, the failures I'd been through due to my own pride and stubbornness.. I felt so TOTALLY embarrassed to even consider asking Him for the forgiveness He promised.

I felt at the same time, the most tremendous weight removed from my shoulders and heart.. And again a sense of shame for the relief I felt, when I didn't deserve it. At the same time, a calmness and peace filled my heart.. A gladness in KNOWING I had been forgiven.. A joy I'd never felt, but had only discussed with others..,while I pretended to be a believer..pretended to be saved... It then seemed a curtain raised up between me and the past.. I could see the things I'd done, but it didn't seem a part of me as it had before... In those few short seconds or minutes, I KNEW the answer to the question-"If you died tonight, do you KNOW where you're going?" And I KNEW that I would never been alone...and knew that I never had been after all... He had and would always been there with me!

How did I get to that point in December,1995? It doesn't really matter...Jesus has taken care of ALL my sins... I did no more or no less than the average person...I had good points in my life and bad points.. High spots and low spots... It all added up to and lead me to the aisle that day... What is important is that I KNOW it's HIS grace that saved me. I KNOW I was not, and even saved now, am not worthy of His love and grace.

Am I now perfect because I am saved? Not by a long shot! I still slip and slide.. But I don't fall because His hand is ALWAYS stretched out to hold me! I look at each challenge in life as a test to see how strong my faith and trust is in Him. And when my time comes to go to him, I will look back on my life with Him and know, "during the low spots in my life there is 1 set of footprints because He carried me"..

Michael Sargent
May 9th, 1999 _______ Back to Testimonies Menu