• When the first person, who was always a bit of a rebel and lived his life “his way” arrived, he thought, OK I did a few bad things in life but never really rejected God as such, “God is a God of Love” so I know that I’ll be OK here. However, God says to him, `I never knew you. Away from me,’  Matt 7:23
• The second person was much more socially accepted, had never really done anything too bad, and even quite enjoyed going to church and hearing stories of hope, peace and love. He thought he was a Christian, prayed every now and then, especially in times of trouble, but had never asked God into his life. He was surprised to hear the same response, `I never knew you. Away from me,’  Matt 7:23
• The third person was a Christian. He knew he had made many mistakes in life, but had prayed for God’s forgiveness, and committed himself to live the rest of his life with Jesus as Lord. When he went to heaven God recognised him and said, “Well done good and faithful servant” Matt.25.23 ... and he spent eternity in heaven.

I certainly related to the second person. I had always thought that God was on my side, always there for me and that I would get to heaven. It was a frightening idea to think that God would not recognise me. I started asking myself a few questions: Does God not love me? Does God know me? How do I get to know God? Is all this stuff about eternal life true? The reality of my situation with God stirred my conscience, and that led me to the cross of Christ. Just before I turned eighteen I asked Jesus to forgive my sin (my wrong doing) and to come into my life. Now I knew I was a Christian.

Understanding the Cross

The idea that God sent his son into the world, to live a perfect life, heal people from their sickness, perform miracles, and then be put to death on a cross for the sake of sinful humanity – sounds like an extremely radical idea, and that is exactly what it is! Understanding the cross is central to the Christian faith. Christ gave His life so we could have life! He has taken the punishment for our sin, so that all who come to him can be washed from their sin and have eternal life, and be called righteous before God.

Conscience > Cross > Christ

When I became a Christian at first I worried about how this would change the way I lived, as in many ways I was quite happy with life, even though I knew I needed my sins to be dealt with. Christianity sounded a bit radical. My whole life was made up of a network of people very close to me – what would happen to them, would my new found faith in God scare them away? Would I lose a lot of people close to me? If you have ever been at that stage when you feel you want to give your life to Christ but have just been too afraid to ask Him, because of the impact and change that this will have, then listen to the words of the Psalmist who said, “Be still and know that I am God.” My experience has been that God has graciously helped me in all these situations, strengthening some existing friendships and giving me many more true friends.

Life now

I am now in my mid twenties and still like my football. Farming seems to be my career path, so I’ve been studying at University in Glasgow and am now working as an Accounts Manager in a farm in Galston, East Ayrshire. There I hope to learn more about farming methods in this modern climate.

The main event of recent times however, is that I got married to my long term girlfriend Jane Watson, and am thoroughly enjoying our marriage together.

If you have been asking some of the same big questions of life that I was asking, and would like to find out more about the Christian faith, then I would invite you to email CMT at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and they will send you some literature and put you in touch with a local Church where you can find some help. You should try the Christianity Explored Course, or the Alpha course – they are both very interesting, and are certainly worth checking out, as my new found faith has given me a real sense of purpose in life.  I hope this has been helpful.

Ally