Make It Your Own
Part 1 of 2
by: Missionary David Vickers
What is an identity? It is simply what sets you apart from the rest of the world. Young people often engage in great battles with parents and authorities trying to establish their identity. Such was the case in my life. I was brought up in the ideal Christian home where both my dad and mom were Bible college graduates. However, this is not what identifies them as outstanding Christian parents. They have excelled as parents because, although they came from less than ideal Christian homes, they rose above that to create their own Christian identities. They taught me to love and obey Jesus Christ, but as a teenager I fought against their leadership trying to create my own identity.
When I legally became an adult, I decided to leave the world in which I was being forced to live, and I joined the Navy. I tried for a while to soothe my conscience by attending church, but in less than a year I had totally quit on God. I vividly remember the last church service I attended. Being still under age, I had found a friend who was willing to help me get drunk. This particular Saturday night, I drank so much that the next morning I was still drunk while I sat through the church service of a sound New Testament Baptist church. I decided then to give up trying to be something that I was not.
This reminds me of the story of Elisha and Elijah. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah finds Elisha and casts his mantle on him after which Elisha leaves his old life and ministers to Elijah. This is one of the classic representations of the relationship between a mentor and a student. Elijah’s mantle represented who he was as the prophet of God, and by giving it to Elisha he was signifying that he was passing that responsibility on to Elisha. However, in 2 Kings 2, Elisha gave the mantle back to Elijah, and Elijah used it to cross the Jordan River. The mantle of Christianity had been passed to me as a child, but in turning away from God, I had effectively given it back.
The fact that I have written this article means that at some point I repossessed the mantle. I decided to make the Christian life my own. After five years of pleasing the flesh, the season of pleasure had run out. The Bible really speaks the truth when it says there is pleasure in sin only for a season. I was miserable, tired of the hangovers, and in deep financial trouble. I had become so irresponsible that I lost my truck. I had neglected to maintain the insurance and registration so I had to illegally park off base and walk to my job. Eventually, the truck got towed, and I did not even have the gumption or finances to go get it back.
My parents planned to visit me in Hawaii, and one of the conditions of their visit was that I find them a church to attend. I had enough sense to at least attend church with my parents when they came. God opened my eyes in a wonderful way and showed me that the emptiness in my life was due to the lack of God. I had finally come to the decision to make the Christian life my life. Elisha, after Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind, picked up Elijah’s mantle and possessed it as his own. I must stop here and say that I believe there is a distinct difference between a saved person and a Christian. One can be a child of God while not following Christ’s example. I want to share with the readers some of the things that I had to take ownership of to make the Christian life my life. These are areas in life that can be developed as early as the teenage years.
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