I was raised in a Catholic family in Quebec during the late 50’s and into the 70’s. During my youth everyone went to church and at least pretended to believe in God. I was about thirteen years old when I began to question, “What if there is no God, then believing in Him would be like believing in Santa Clause?” It occurred to me that if there is no God I can do whatever I want since we will all just die anyways. But if there is a God and He made me and everything else, then I will have to give an account to Him someday. So I decided that before I make any decisions I had better find out if there is a God. I didn’t bother asking anyone knowing the answer I would get. Instead I pondered and thought until finally, one night I stepped outside and looked up at the sky wondering about Him. To my shock, right then, He spoke to me and said, “I have been waiting for you to come all this time.” I fell back against the house and laughed with joy!
However, since that occasion, whenever I was aware that I had sinned, I felt fearful and begged for His forgiveness, but He still seemed a million miles away. Knowing God is there and not being able to reach Him is so frustrating. When I was fifteen or sixteen, my mother challenged me, saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He is God. That made me furious. "How absurd," I thought!
I continued to search for the missing link in my life and stumbled into some very bad stuff which I thought was the answer. I hated this world because it is so godless and shallow, and I wanted out. I wanted something real. I was determined to jump into this alternate venture, but because it did not include God I figured that I had better first give my Mother’s Bible a chance. I was then eighteen. Opening it up to the New Testament and reading the Words of Jesus, I realized that Jesus Christ is the one and same God Who spoke to me those many years earlier. At that very moment I felt like I had been dead for eighteen years and had just come to life. God no longer seemed a million miles away, but was right there with me. I felt completely satisfied. Still I knew that there was something I needed to be doing.
Three years later I met young fellow who told me that I should serve the Lord. That’s it! I determined to go into the ministry and preach Jesus. I took all the training I could, but when the time came, the Pastor told me that he couldn’t use me because I was too hostile. He was right. I would get angry when people wouldn’t repent. He was justified, but I was devastated by his evaluation. Instead, the Lord sent me back into the world that I hated and commanded me to walk in the love of Jesus Christ.
The fire has never stopped burning in my heart since the day I found that Jesus and God are real. I have preached Him in the prison, at the young offender’s facility, on the streets, in bars, on the radio, and wherever possible.
In this fleeting life there are many critical issues and concerns, but none are as important, more significant, and more impacting than getting our life right with God our Creator. Everything else will fall into place. Jesus said that whoever comes to Him will never hunger, and whoever believes in Him will never thirst. Jesus Christ is returning, and there is a day of retribution, and a Judgment Day, yet He is calling us to walk with Him by faith and love. That is the reason for the urgency and all the commotion. Please take Him seriously!
