“...Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved...” (Acts 2:21) In 18th-century England, a man named John Wesley searched for more out of life and more from God in many ways: by serving the poor and those in prison; as a missionary to the Indians in the British colony of Georgia; through a strict adherence to a religious discipline; and others. However, each of these things left him feeling empty and unfulfilled. It wasn’t until what we today call his “Aldersgate experience” that Wesley found the answer he’d been searching for. He describes it this way in his Journal from May 24, 1738:
“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
Like Wesley, many people today are searching for more out of life, and going about it by trying to be “good people” and do “good things” for others. While these are certainly important, each of us must discover (as Wesley did) that only through a personal relationship with God through Jesus can find that for which we’re searching so desperately.
“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
Like Wesley, many people today are searching for more out of life, and going about it by trying to be “good people” and do “good things” for others. While these are certainly important, each of us must discover (as Wesley did) that only through a personal relationship with God through Jesus can find that for which we’re searching so desperately.
As we remember the anniversary of Wesley’s “Aldersgate” experience coming up on May 24th, I invite you to let his testimony become yours by allowing God to “warm” your heart through faith in Christ Jesus. If you haven’t already, invite Christ to be your Savior today! Remember, God loves you and I do, too!
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