13 years and counting...

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Down the years I can confidently say I have made some silly decisions but accepting Christ hasn’t been one of them. In all truth, it has been the best decision I have made and I doubt it will be topped by any other. Today marks 13 years since I chose to get saved, at the time I barely knew what I was doing or what getting ‘saved’ really meant, but I am grateful I took that step. I feel both older and younger now. Older, that I have grown in leaps and bounds but still young as I am miles away from nearing spiritual maturity.

Pimples are inevitable physical changes in the life of a teenager; my spiritual adolescence has been accompanied with an acceptance of my iniquities. My selfish nature, judgmental attitude, lustful staring, pride have been frequent blemishes to my spiritual face. By myself, I am hideous but God’s abundant grace has been the perfect concealer for my flaws and for that I am highly thankful. Often, Christ has picked me up, dusted me and helped me start the walk of righteousness by faith all over again.

For sure, Jesus has been my joy and has been gracious to me in more ways than one. How can I forget when he helped me pass my KCPE with a staggering 443 marks or the admission to Alliance High School that was to follow and a first class honours at Strathmore University to come later? All this despite having started primary school consistently being bottom of the class even scoring zero marks in a CAT once! 

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He has been relentless in showering me with gifts; if it was not my Huawei U3100 mobile handset cum Modem(Kabambe 3G is just not a name befitting for this versatile device) then it was a Samsung Galaxy Music duos. There has been a PS 2 console, laptop and now a tablet, however, his blessings haven’t just been material but in people as well.

I have been gifted loving and caring parents with equally loving siblings who have been instrumental in shaping the man I am today. The Luhnje I am will mean that I will also give credit to my kukhas, kukhus, uncles, aunts, cousins who have played their role as well. I don’t know where I would be without them. I have been blessed to be a congregant of Nairobi Baptist Church, whose teaching of the word through sermons and numerous other fellowships have been a catalyst in my spiritual growth. I have been blessed to meet and befriend people from that church, Strathmore University, Fairmont the Norfolk hotel, Silver Springs Hotel amongst many others. It has been through these people that God has revealed his character and instilled in me a desire to become like some of them because of their admirable qualities. They have enriched my life and for that reason I am blessed.

I would be lying if I said tough times haven’t been there. There have been times of sickness like having vertigo. There have been times of despair and self-doubt when I didn’t quite pass my KCSE like KCPE or when I failed to do an internship and thus didn’t look like graduating. There has been the pain of losing a comrade so early. I have experienced different kinds of pain but the most defining one was the pain of unrequited love because it made me realize how much God loved me and how little I reciprocated his affection.

Being acquaintance-zoned by a lady I really liked not just for her looks made me realize how I acquaintance-zoned God who loves me even at my worst. It was a stunning revelation that made me more appreciative of his grace and more eager to tell of the gospel. A grace that made Jesus sacrifice his life for us so that He could cancel our sin and reconcile us to God even though we didn’t deserve it. It was this grace that caused me to complain less and appreciate more of all that he has done for me. Surprisingly, it was through this pain that I understood his great love for me and it has been through these trying moments that I have experienced his mercy, grace and faithfulness first-hand as He has rescued me frequently and blessed me with things, people I have barely deserved.

He has transformed me, giving me a heart of contentment, a heart that forgives and is patient with others because he is patient with me, a heart that cares for others and not just myself and a heart that yearns to know more of God. I am far from the finished article but I trust that as I continue my walk with Christ, he will be with me every step of the way and finish the good work he started 13 years ago.