Romans 8:28 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
When I was 12 I was sent off to boarding
school. Up until that time I had led a very sheltered life. I attended a
preparatory school connected with a college where Dad was a much respected
teacher. Over the next six years I picked up my “street smarts.” Originally I
found it expedient to stand up for the opinions of the authorities. I regarded
their rules, their opinions, and their decisions as sacrosanct.
This submersion in boarding school
was like taking large helpings of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Being a somewhat normal if nerdy teenager, I tried lots of forbidden things
just for the kicks. I tried alcohol and tobacco, shoplifting, and other obvious
sins. Worse, I learned subterfuge, deceit, and general distrust of the
establishment.
The establishment had taught me the
legal aspects of Christianity. They taught me to read inspiration their way.
Their way supported church authority at all costs. Therefore I read the Bible
with their interpretation. I read the Spirit of Prophecy with their
interpretation. Everything I read showed me how evil I had become. Indeed I
quickly recognized that I was damned. Furthermore, there was no way I could
change that status. This led me deeper
and deeper into a sinful, lawless life. My fellow students were quick to urge
me on in my descent towards hell.
But God had decided to defeat the seeming
triumph of Satan and evil over my life. He led me to Germany. I went there to
learn German−at
another boarding school. This time my fellow students were all German. Knowing
no German initially, I felt cut off from my fellow humans. Because of this, I
attended a Sunday church on the American army base and joined its choir, merely
for companionship. They spoke English, so we could understand each other.
These new friends came from all
walks of life and all religious persuasions. Some came to church for exactly
the same reason as I had, for companionship. They had as much Christianity as I
did. Others came because they loved Jesus and wanted fellowship with other
Christians. One of these made it his mission to introduce Jesus to me.
Yes, I knew Jesus. He carried
around a big black book with all of my misdeeds in it underlined in red. He was
seeking to punish me for all of my evil deeds. This new Jesus, according to
this young Christian, was a savior. At first I didn’t really know what that
word meant. But with long patience this missionary taught me. He had a very
simplistic understanding of Jesus, even childlike. But that’s exactly what
Jesus had declared as essential to being a Christian. Finally I accepted this
new concept of Jesus. I then spent many years unlearning what my early training
had so successfully drummed into every facet of my psyche.
Now I was learning from and about
a Jesus who loves me unconditionally—all the time!
Thank you, Lord, for
working out circumstances for my good. Help me to communicate Your love to
those You bring to me.
[1]
U.S. Army Military Base at Darmstadt am Main Germany https://www.pinterest.com/pin/565061084476668082/
