In my early teenage years I struggled with the desire to be a good person, while at the same time questioning the value of the Christian faith. I was not able to be the ideal person I wanted to be. As hard as I tried, I could not live up to the moral standards of the Bible and felt a failure. I was also asking questions about the significance of life in the face of the death of my beloved grandmother. Where had she gone? How can life be so real when it can be snuffed out so suddenly? In my reading recently I came across this observation which described my condition at that time.

“One of the developmental tasks of adolescence is to acquire a set of values and an ethical system as a guide to behavior. The crowning accomplishment of adolescence is the achieving of a mature sense of values and a set of ethical controls that characterize a good man and a good citizen. The adolescent years are crucial for decision-making in the matter of a personal worldview and a meaningful life-orientation.” (John Warwick Montgomery, Myth, Allegory and Gospel, 116)

In 1953 my home church was holding a series of meetings with some visiting speakers. One of them was Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman who had been incarcerated in Ravensbruck concentration camp by the Nazis for hiding Jews during the second World War. Her stories captivated me and after her talk I asked her some questions about her experience. She challenged me whether I had asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. I thought that was what I had done when I was confirmed in the Church but it didn’t seem to satisfy her.

The next day, at a meeting for youth another speaker gave us an opportunity to ask Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Savior. He quoted a text from Revelation 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.” He explained that Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts and wants to enter into our lives and live through us. Instead of trying in our own strength to live a good life, and failing, Jesus, by his Spirit, would help us to become the person God wants us to be.

He went on to say that Jesus wanted to give us eternal life in his kingdom. Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life, He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” All of a sudden I understood that death is not the end and that we were destined for a greater life. Life had a meaning and a purpose with the personal knowledge of Christ.

When the invitation was given to commit my life to Christ and invite him into my life as Savior and Lord, I did so. A new life opened up for me. A dramatic change occurred and the words of the Bible came alive. From that day to this I have never doubted the truth of the Gospel.