I met God when I was 18

Before I met Jesus

I wasn’t looking to meet God. I wasn’t searching for Him. I thought I was a Christian because I had joined a church. I knew nothing about having a personal relationship with Jesus or following Jesus. I had gone to church with my parents and with a friend from school whose dad was the preacher.

My parents had given me a New Testament to read when I was younger and I did start reading some of it. I didn’t find it interesting.

When I was 18, I saw a brochure about a 9 day stay on the gold coast. It included the trip up and back on a bus. 3 meals a day and accommodation all for $169. I thought “wow” “that’s cheap.” It was through an organisation called Youth For Christ. It was the cheap holiday I was interested in, not the organisation. So I went and on the way up on the bus, I sat next to a chap who gave me a book to read called “More than a Carpenter.” It was about Jesus and how He did some amazing things. He walked on the sea and fed thousands with a small amount of food which He multiplied. I found the book interesting, but when I finished it, I thought “so what?” Jesus did some unusual things, but what does that have to do with me?

God was looking for me, not me for Him

One night at a group meeting, the speaker told a story about a man who sacrificed his son. He did it to enable a trainload of people to survive a terrible crash. Then he referenced the fact that God the Father sacrificed His Son Jesus to pay my penalty for my sins. When I heard this, I thought how can I slap God in the face by refusing His offer of forgiveness? When the invitation was given to go down the front and accept Jesus as my Saviour, I went. The first thing I experienced was the presence of God and great peace. I was happy and I knew that I would never be alone for the rest of my life.

Jesus and I got to know each other

I got to know God through prayer and reading His word the Bible consisting of Old and New Testaments. Reading the Bible is me listening to God and me praying is me talking to God. Two way communication. I listen to Him and He listens to me. He talks to me and I talk to Him. Of course I went to church as well. Before I met God, the Bible was of no interest to me. After meeting God, the Bible came alive and was very interesting to me. God reveals Himself in the Bible and in answers to prayer and in His creation of this planet and the universe and everything in it.

God loves you

God demonstrated His love for us when Jesus His Son died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins while we were still sinners. He raised Jesus from the dead on the third day after He died and He is alive now in heaven sitting at the right hand of the throne of His Father. Jesus can be known now by anyone who asks Him to come into their lives. He will take over and clean you out and make you better.

The Anointed Path