There was a girl about 19 years of age. She had the ideal appearance for most teens in the world: Long blonde hair, hazel eyes, standard height and weight. She dressed as the world, and was full of vanity as the world. She was not blessed with the treasure of having parents who knew the truths of the Bible, or that even desired to look much for them. Her only Christian influence had been from her early childhood.
When she was five years old, she had gone with friends to a Baptist summer Bible school. Later, at the age of 8, for a while she attended the Methodist Church with her mother, and became a regular in the choir. But due to her dad not wanting to attend, soon her mother felt overwhelmed and stopped going since she couldn’t drive. So, that ended the little girl’s time at church. But one golden thing had happened during that brief period: A tiny little seed of heaven was unknowingly planted in the heart of this child.
When the girl became a teen, she still remembered the stories of Jesus, and something about giving herself to Him. She remembered telling a man, “Yes, I want to give myself to Jesus,” and sincerely, with little tears, she had decided she would. At the age of 18, this kept cropping up in the back of her mind. She had been taught some basic commandments by her parents—the golden rule, don’t lie, don’t steal, obey your mom and dad. But she had never really sat down and read the Bible on her own.
After graduating from high school in her small country town, she wanted to find meaning in life and sought it by joining the United States Air Force. After going through basic training, she attained a good position and gained a few stripes in rank. But something was still missing. After daily duty, occasionally she would think of heavenly things. It began to bother her so much that she decided to buy a Bible. But where to buy one? The Air Force Base Service Store had Bibles for sale in one corner—two or three of them—red letter edition—King James (whatever that meant, she thought). She brought it back to her dormitory and started with the book of Revelation, always being the type that liked to look at the end of a story first. But how scary it seemed! Okay, she thought, let’s start with Genesis then. Okay, okay, going good—but what’s all this “begat, begat” stuff? Oh well, the Methodist Church always liked Psalm 23—she had memorized that when very little—let’s start there; so she did. She began to learn and seek after God, and she also decided that talking to Him was important in case He was really there and could help. All the childhood things began to come back: Prayer, Christ died for you, Christ gave His life for you, Christ was the beginning and the end.
You see, children of the world just don’t know—they don’t know that Jesus really loves them; they aren’t sure that Jesus has died for them; they aren’t even sure if they are sinners or not. They must come a long way from Egypt to find the heavenly sanctuary. They are out there on Sabbath playing baseball or football, because they just don’t know what you know! My children of the Reform Movement, you have been given something more incredible than any other child on this earth. The gift of truth in your youth!!! Do not envy, do not think you are missing out on some great thing, when you see worldly children playing, dressing or listening to worldly things. Do not feel as if you have not been given any less of a benefit because you are kept separate from such things. You have been blessed to have learned about these precious Bible truths early in your lives. You have indeed been given what I would call a double blessing, so you will not fall into the pollution that sticks like tar to the innocent minds of the world’s children, and affects their tender, dear hearts.
Let’s continue about our young girl. Study became an obsession to her—she joined Lutheran Bible study groups, then Baptist Bible study groups, then Evangelical, and so on, until she began to realize that they all stopped short at some point and stopped studying! At some point each and every one would stop; either they began instituting more and more church traditions and rules, or they’d shy off when Revelation came up, or they’d skip the Old Testament completely. She began to wonder what was wrong with her. At 21 she prayed hard for God to help her. Where was a church that taught the word of God? Still watching Sunday morning Bible programs, she stumbled across someone teaching Daniel and Revelation. This teacher offered a Revelation Seminar in town. They even offered a free vegetarian meal for lunch! This was too much to pass up. What were vegetarians? She learned a head full—the Sabbath, the second coming of Christ, the state of the dead, and that we should eat more healthfully. Well, this was so much to take in—and it was all truth, right there before her eyes! Her brain was nearly hurting from all the information, but she couldn’t deny any of it—and the food was great, besides.
You see, she hadn’t had the truth handed to her by her parents. Nor had she been guided along through her youth with sweet pieces of truth, or as I like to say, “facts.” She had to determine to dig hard and deep to find her Saviour, staying up late reading the Scriptures, praying, and seeking. Dear young people, you have to do this same thing! Do not think that you do not need to dig for your personal salvation. Even if you have been raised with the luxury of a God-fearing, Christian home plus Sabbath school and church instruction, you need to discover your Saviour in a personal way, just as every person on this planet does, whether coming from Egypt or from Israel. You cannot let your light go out and expect your parents to keep on lighting it. You must take a personal interest in your relationship with Christ!
Oh yes, you want to know more about this teenager. Well, she was soon baptized into the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but you know what? She continued to study, and of course, you know what else? There came a point when even this church began to shy away from certain issues of truth. She was again praying for help from God to lead her to His true church—and you know that God always answers prayers that fulfill His will for us. He always leads those who seek Him, His children, higher and higher into all truth. She was introduced to a study on the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement. Nominal SDA pastors told her to stay away, because “those people are too different from us.” But she trusted in God and knew that He would never lead her astray as she earnestly sought His pure and perfect will.
As she studied, she learned even more truth—about the 144,000, about the sanctuary, about living health reform, the sanctity of marriage, and about the beauty and importance of having Christlikeness of character. And her head was spinning again; her mind was full, but she could not deny the clear word of God and the wholeness of His message for our days. Christ said in her heart, “Follow Me. Take up My cross and follow Me.” So she did. Today she is 40, and having struggled with various winds of doctrine during her early years, and enduring the selected truths of the SDA Church, she finally arrived home. Home to Christ, home to His true church, by proving the Scriptures and His prophets through personal study.
Oh yes, the girl (of course you might have been like me; you probably read the end of the story first)—I am the girl! May God bless you all, in Jesus’ name, Amen.—by Chinta Louise Torpey, California, U.S.A.
Source: Youth Messenger ® (USPS 765-030)
Published by the Young People’s Department of the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement General Conference as an educational service for our youth worldwide.
Web: http://www.sdarm.org, e-mail: info@sdarm.org.
