A Purely Personal Letter To You From My Heart

A Purely Personal Letter To You From My Heart

Hello, my dear friend,

The last time I met you, I really wanted to talk to you much. But you were in a rather hurry mood. So I hope I can unburden my heart through this letter.

I always wanted to share with you the tremendous joy and peace that fills my heart, as a result of the contact I happened to have with a particular ‘Person’. But you, though smiling and enthusiastic externally, and joyful with your own pleasures and priorities in this world, apparently lack this sort of divine inner joy, I feel so as often as I think of you.

Yes, you will argue with me a hundred times that I’m otherworldly, that I am in some hallucination, that I’m euphoric……. if I say that this particular ‘Person’ I mentioned earlier is none other than the God Himself who created you and me. Yea, God has begun to relate with me. Of course, you may say: “This is something emotional, which ‘weak’ people resort to. We should be wise and sober so as not to get entrapped in crazy fantasy……”

No, dear, this God is not fantasy. This is truth; believe me. Now you may tell me: “I also know God. He is love. He is kind. He forgives us. He is eternal. He is a power…..” and go on with all your philosophies…… “He understands our weakness. It’s O.K however we live, even if we sin, provided we do no harm to anybody. God has given us this life to enjoy as far as possible. Yet we must love all, do many good deeds to please God…….”

But I want to say to you something quite different from my own personal experience. My line of thoughts was also in this direction at one time. But some years ago, I happened to realize that, howsoever I tried to lead a holy life with all my philosophies and ideologies, though I could be extra-decent and loving to all externally, it was all pride and self-centeredness inside. Yea, by the mercy of God, I got a glimpse of my own wretchedness and helplessness in the presence of a holy God on that very Sunday morning of December 19^th, 1999.

This burden of sin was not, of course, based on the number of sins I committed, but I realized it to be something inherent in my nature, too heavy for me to cast away. Then I – who till then assumed myself to be the most spiritual man on earth, close to God (!!) – for the first time in my life, lifted my inner eyes in utter helplessness to that God who created you and me, who was actually unknown to me till then.

All these took place in the Room no:14 of St. Thomas Hostel of Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, when I was doing my Second Pre-degree Course there. Suddenly I felt an inner urge to open the Holy Bible on my table (which I had acquired from my ex-room-mate, though I was a traditional Hindu). The 25^th to 27^th verses of the 36^th chapter of the book of Ezekiel were the verses my eyes came to focus on to, which reads thus:

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and I will cause you to walk in My statutes and you will be careful to observe all My ordinances”.

The Lord Jesus Christ really spoke these words to my very heart. Having cleansed me and relieved me of all my burdens, He filled my heart literally with heavenly love, joy and peace. Indeed,

“Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,

When at the cross, my Saviour made me whole.

My sins were washed away,

And my night was turned to day…..”

Like John Newton, I, too, sing from my heart:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see…….”

Now dear friend, Jesus has become the Lover of my soul. He is my Saviour, and He is my Lord. He is my King, and He is my Brother and Friend. He is my Shepherd, and above all, He is my Heavenly Bridegroom.

Yes, dear friend, now you can label me anything you like – religious fanatic or lunatic, because ‘blind’ religious men of His day, called even Jesus by such and other worse names, and at last crucified Him; but He resurrected on the third day to give you and me eternal life. You, too, can receive this beautiful life with Jesus, if you just turn away and repent of all your sins and entrust yourself completely into His nail-pierced hands.

THE BIBLE CLEARLY STATES THAT NO RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES, NO GOOD WORKS, NO SACRAMENTS CAN ATONE FOR OUR SINS. THE BIBLE ALONE REVEALS THAT GOD LOVES EACH ONE OF US INFINITELY, AND YET HE CANNOT TOLERATE THE SIN IN US, BECAUSE OF HIS INFINITE HOLINESS. SO HE HIMSELF INCARNATED AS JESUS CHRIST, LIVED A HOLY LIFE AS AN EXAMPLE FOR US, AND DIED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY, SUFFERING THE PUNISHMENT OF EACH ONE OF OUR SINS. THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES US THAT THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ALMIGHTY GOD IS TO SIMPLY REPENT OF OUR SINS FROM THE HEART AND ENTRUST OUR LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST, BELIEVING IN OUR HEART THAT IT WAS FOR “MY” SINS THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN.

Now it’s your chance, my friend….. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart.

You can invite Him into your life right now by praying like this:

“Lord Jesus, I need You. I want to know You personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for MY sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Saviour and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Lead and guide my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

Finally, my dear friend, let me make it clear that I do not follow any religion or its nauseating traditions and corruptions. I have no change of , religion, but in fact, Christ changed me myself. Jesus has founded no religion at all. Yes, real Christianity is not a religion at all, but a way of life – a real day to day love relationship with Jesus Christ!

If we take time to surrender our lives completely to Him, He will truly fill our hearts with His divine love through the Holy Spirit. Then our concern in everything we think, say or do is whether this will bring delight to the heart of our loving Lord or not. Whenever we fail to keep the mark, we need to repent radically of having grieved His tender heart.

I just want to cling on to Jesus and follow Him all throughout my life. I feel I have unburdened the very burden of my heart, especially for a person like you. We can talk to each other more on this, if you want to, in the coming days….

May God bless you abundantly!

With love and prayers,

Dr. Sandeep.B.