Kirkconnell Parish Church

Kirkconnell Parish Church in Dumfriesshire very conveniently had a datestone above its entrance: 1729. Whereas I can guess most church buildings to half a century or so, Kirkonnel’s saved me the trouble and offered a degree of accuracy I could never have attained using my own knowledge.

I claim to have been converted on 1 December, 1987. I had to go to bed at 7pm at that age, and I recall kneeling by that bed to pray, so might I hazard a guess at 7.05pm? The prayer lasted only 15 seconds or so, so might I venture 01/12/87 19:05:15 as the point at which was 'saved'. My memory of the chronology of my regeneration is not as accurate as I would like to think; was it then or was it not?

I know some people who are troubled by not knowing the exact point (or even just the day) at which their sins were forgiven and they became children of God. The greater issue is not whether you know when, but whether it happened at all. Better to have a dateless church than a dated ruin; better to be a forgiven sinner of unknown age than a fully documented reprobate.

O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! Job 14:13