I have been in church my entire life but I have only been a follower of Jesus for 7 years. I grew up learning the Bible and hearing all about God but somehow all of the head knowledge never reached my heart until much later in my life.
I was fresh out of the military and going to college when my wife kept wanting me to go to church. At the time both of us would have said we were Christians though neither of us was very serious about following Jesus or serving him. So we started attending a local church and hearing a very clear message about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and not someone who just says they are a Christian but then does whatever they want with their life. This message resonated with both of us strongly and we both surrendered completely to Jesus as our Lord and King and began following Him from that point forward.
Now we study the Bible daily in order to continue to learn about who God is and His great love for us as well as how he wants us to live out our lives in this world. We seek to honor Jesus in all that we do and look for opportunities to share His love with others. We also desire to help others to stay grounded in the truth and not be swayed to the left or to the right with false ideas about Jesus and his commands. I have always found that Jesus is at the intersection of Truth and Love and desire to stay at that place with Him always.
But what is so amazing is that even if I sin and leave that place, Jesus has already paid the price for my sin and I can repent and receive Grace in my time of need and Jesus will restore me once more! Our King is mighty and just and compassionate and good!