Redemption with an After-taste of Urine

Jeff.

After that, everything changed. Well, except my desire to fit in. I went to a party a month later and after turning down several offers for a beer, I finally caved and opened up a can of Miller Genuine Draft.

I took one sip of it after my laudable month of sobriety, and it tasted a little sour to me. Assuming that I was a little "out of practice," I took another swig. This time, it tasted awful, almost like urine (how I know the difference is an entirely different story). I was puzzled - I had always enjoyed the taste of beer since 8th grade.

Apparently, my new life with God would not be so easily thwarted by a simple act of disobedience. This was my first stepping stone towards the grace. So, I took the hint, and stopped drinking.

My life wasn't just about me any more. Apparently, "getting saved" (I hated that term, by the way) was more than just asking Jesus into my heart; it was his allowing me into his.

The kingdom of God invaded my life that day, and I knew that it was just the beginning. He was allowing his will to be done in me, so that it could be done in the lives of others - in the world, even.

As the transformation played itself out, I realized that I couldn't live my life according to my own standards any more. Rather, I had to walk according to what this new Spirit inside of me was telling me to do. My life of relativism had taken a turn toward the universal.

I had a friend who became so convinced of this fact that she covered her Bible with a piece of paper, some tape, and Sharpie marker ink that read: "THE TRUTH." It wasn't just a book to her; it was the essence of Truth itself, and she wanted to live by it.

As I read this Truth, certain words stuck out to me, red ones in particular, words that told me to love my neighbor, to hate my own life, to give to the poor, and preach good news to the broken and destitute. I found that whatever color the letters were, they were powerful, telling me to do things that I didn't want to do.

Empowered by God and no longer by my own good intentions, I set out to follow those words, and that led me to a place I really didn't want to go. But somehow, ironically, I knew that it was where I was supposed to be. And when I got there, there was, finally, peace.