I was brought up in the church so so that was what i knew. It was not my choice to understand religion in that manner. Why do we believe? Do we believe because it makes sense and help us cope. God gives me strength, protects me and helps live a full and content life. You might say, I believe out of necessity.
We are provided a world view by our guardians... We are most likely to accept the indoctrination provided. Some explore and move on, some return, some never leave the belief provided.
My case is a little different from yours in that I was not raised in church. I was never pressured into attendance outside of a couple of special occasions. One of them was a vacation bible school which I ended up enjoying. This was in association with the Seventh Day Adventist church, to which my mom and dad had had some ties in the past. I was raised by my grandmother, who identified as Christian Science, but again, no pressure. I grew up as one who tended to believe in God only in a tight situation. In such cases, I might be led to cast about somewhat in prayer until the situation was resolved, but after that back to business as usual. As a child I remember once that I challenged God to prove his existence to me by causing this or that to happen. The first time, the thing happened, but upon subsequent challenges (one was not enough for me), nothing. It was not until age 21 that I began to be drawn unmistakably toward God, through Christ. I would describe it as both a state of conviction and a promise of better things, new things. There was no doubt in my mind who was drawing me. So an open door, so to speak, was presented to me, and that door was Christ. To walk through the door meant giving my entire being to Him, no matter what that entailed. I could not have created the open door on my own, but there it was. Now the choice fell to me. Though fearful, somehow I found the grace to overcome those fears, and I walked through that door. Choice, yes, some of that, but... One can hardly boast of choice when the door is opened for him and the choice of whether or not to walk through it is that obvious. Necessity... Looking back, the only necessity was that I was not going to be able to stagger along the road of life much further the way I was. Did the open door save my life? I would say yes.
That's it. "Knock, and you will be answered" How can there be "a door" if we are looking the other way?
I believe the moment of acceptance is the time of receiving. Time, age and space is irrelevant to the nature of understanding and wisdom. Spiritually speaking however, God reveals what we are to know at any given time and space. No doubt God may reveal Himself differently, however God is God and we are not.
