A few hours after the shortest day and the longest night of the darkest moon, the sun rose, and I was born — a premie, a month too early, eager to see my first Christmas. They brought me home in a Christmas stocking, so tiny that my mother said I was “swimming in it.”

From the very beginning, God’s presence felt steady and real. Even at a very young age, there was a quiet recognition that He existed and was watching over me. Sometimes it even seemed as though that awareness began before they ever placed me in that Christmas stocking. Around age three, playing in our driveway, I often kept my eyes down because God felt so great and overwhelming. Even then, His care, His protection, and His love were unmistakable.

At some point, it became clear that if God chose to love me, then He must be safe to speak to. So by age four, I began talking to Him.

Picture a small boy, overwhelmed by God’s greatness yet drawn to His warmth, hiding in His shadow. Secrets were whispered to Him because He listened. Little cares were handed over first, and soon even the deeper concerns found their way into His hands.

And what concerns they were. The way people spoke about God often made me wonder whether anyone truly knew Him. Surely, if they did, their words would sound different.

So whenever others talked about God, I would carefully listen to hear whether they understood who He was. Then I would take this to God as quiet little prayers. Over time, those prayers grew heavier and more intense.

Not long after my fifth birthday, our church held a New Year’s Eve gathering. Near midnight, the auditorium was almost empty; most people were downstairs eating cake and drinking punch. But I was playing under the pews.

A man who wanted to be a preacher stepped up to the podium to practice a sermon. He chose to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I listened enough to follow along.

He preached about how everyone was lost in their sins and needed to be holy, perfect in order to come to God. The only Way to be Saved Eternally is to come to God and accept His Gift of love for us.

He spoke of how all people are lost in sin and must be holy to come to God. The only way to be saved is to accept God’s gift of love. He preached that Jesus is God manifested as a perfect man — lived a sinless life because no one else could. He said Jesus willingly died on the cross, taking upon Himself the sins of the world because He loved us.

Somehow, I knew everything he said was true. That was my God he was describing. This was exactly what He would do. This gift of love was what my God would offer to anyone who would receive it.

But while the man preached, I was listening to Someone higher. God’s Spirit was reaching down to comfort a lost little boy who had just been found.

If I remember correctly, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior before the man gave an invitation. I repented of my sins — as much as a child could understand — knowing that sin meant disobeying God and not listening to Him.

Many would say I was a Christian at that moment, but something was missing. The Spirit told me that to be a true Christian, I needed to give my life to Christ — all of it.

I thought about this for a few minutes. Did I really want to do that? I was thinking in terms of forever: past, present, and future. I didn’t know if it was possible, but I believed God could make it possible. So I trusted Him and gave Him my life.

Just a small child crying, “Here I am, Lord; save me.”

At that moment, my spirit came to life. The Lord’s Spirit entered me and comforted me, answering every question I had about salvation.

I had to tell someone, but the preaching man had already left. So I ran out of the auditorium and found a man in a suit. I told him I had accepted Christ and given my life to Him. He wasn’t sure whether to believe me, so he began asking questions and explaining salvation. As he spoke, the only thought was whether he understood what God had just done.

Eventually he seemed convinced the experience was genuine, and he explained that baptism was the next step, describing what it represented. But I told him that I didn’t want to be baptized because I already had been baptized into the Spirit of God, the only true baptism. Still, he insisted that God commanded water baptism, so I listened and obedience followed. They baptized me the next week.

As I learned to read, I began reading the Holy Bible. The small dictionary in the back wasn’t enough, so I kept a large Webster’s dictionary beside me. When I reached Isaiah — and especially Jeremiah — I was startled. Their words echoed the very prayers I had been praying. Not always word‑for‑word, but the same heart, the same meaning.

Then I reached Lamentations, and in some places the prayers matched exactly. Other times the wording differed only because I didn’t pray in King James English, and my prayers were not for Jerusalem or Israel specifically, but for what one might call true Israel — God’s people as He sees them.

From then on, I read the bible with a 1942 Webster’s Dictionary on one side and a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance on the other.

This is how my life in Christ began. I wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t have good examples to follow. The road ahead would be rough.

As I’ve followed Jesus through the years, one message kept standing out above all the others. It was always there — simple, clear, and repeated — yet I rarely heard anyone talk about it anymore. This message was fading, yet it was unmistakably something Jesus wanted us to hear and receive.

So one day I decided to share this message with everyone I could. And because the gospel is free, I felt compelled to give something freely as well. So I began giving out little crosses.

I tried various kinds — small metal ones, wooden ones. But what truly mattered was not the type of cross, but sharing Jesus’ message with them. I would tell them the crosses were only tokens, a small reminder of what Christ Jesus said.

The Message Jesus Really Wanted to Get Across

See Matthew 10:39-40; Matthew 16:25-26; Mark 8:34-36; Mark 9:37; Mark 10:21; Luke 9:23-25; Luke 9:48; Luke 17:33; John 12:25-26; John 13:20

A compiled version:
Whosoever desires to come after Christ must deny himself, take up his cross each day, and follow Him.
For whoever seeks to save his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake, for the gospel, and for the kingdom will save it and keep it unto eternal life.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his own soul?
And whoever receives those whom Christ sends receives Christ Himself, and in receiving Him receives the Father who sent Him.
Whoever serves Christ must follow Him, and such a one shall be honored by the Father.

I love you Lord Jesus, please bless this message to all who will receive it. Amen.

~ Shawn Driscoll

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.