My knowledge of Christ, the gospel, and God's Word all began as a child. I now realise that growing up in a Christian household was a great blessing for me. But despite my knowledge of the gospel, I never truly knew Jesus Christ during that time.
I grew up in a church called Redeemer Church of Dubai. It was an amazing church, albeit quite large, but the preaching was grounded in the Bible. They had a good Sunday school for me and other children (although they did church on Fridays in the United Arab Emirates).
Despite this immersion in Christ, I seemed to think of God as nothing more than a way to 'get' things. I thought of Jesus Christ as nothing more than a 'ticket' to get to heaven. I only prayed for help when I wanted things that were material (and often worthless in God's eyes). On the rare occasions when I did pray, it was never for others or to glorify God in any way.
Once I got older and began sitting in for the sermons in church, I never bothered to listen. It was the 'boring' part of the service for me. (Now I realise that it is quite the opposite.) I also put off really getting to know Christ, thinking that surely I have time to 'figure it out' later, while I spent my time doing what I thought were more worthwhile things.
