•11:01 AM
I was in my Senior year at High School. I had just turned 18 years old. It was Christmas Break and I was bored.
As I walked up the stairs to my bedroom, I passed a book that had sat there for a couple of years. (My parents had divorced a couple of years earlier, and Dad left behind a bunch of Bible books; this was one of them). As I passed the book, I side-stepped it like it was a land mine. I stopped. Why had I walked around that book? I didn't even know its title. I picked it up, continued up the stairs, and began to read on my bed.
The book was a 'Commentary on the Book of Revelation.' It was about an inch and a half thick! As I began reading, I was aware at once that this was both spiritual and powerful. (A commentary walks the reader through the book, giving explanations in a verse-by-verse manner.) Soon, I realized that I wanted to take notes. I went downstairs and grabbed an old family Bible that was sitting on a shelf. It was large print, and had lots of room for making notes in the margins.
I devoured the commentary! I wrote notes all over my Bible. And the Lord was softening my heart. By the time I read about the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and the gates of pearl (Rev. 21:21), I was convinced. I bowed my head to pray. "Lord, I know that I'm already saved, but if I'm not, please save me. And I know that my sins have already been forgiven, but if they're not, please forgive me of my sins. Do whatever you need to do so that I can go to heaven when I die."
There was no immediate change. I finished reading the book, and went to bed. However, when I woke up the next morning, I was a different person!
This commentary was just a small part of a large collection in a cardboard box in the downstairs coat closet. This box was filled with other commentaries, sermon booklets, and cassette tapes of teaching and preaching. Shoe boxes filled with teaching tapes! I started devouring this box one book at a time. The last half of my senior year is a blur, but I do remember reading, and reading, and reading. On into the summer, I read and listened to tapes, and took lots and lots of notes in my Bible.
And I haven't stopped yet!
As I walked up the stairs to my bedroom, I passed a book that had sat there for a couple of years. (My parents had divorced a couple of years earlier, and Dad left behind a bunch of Bible books; this was one of them). As I passed the book, I side-stepped it like it was a land mine. I stopped. Why had I walked around that book? I didn't even know its title. I picked it up, continued up the stairs, and began to read on my bed.
The book was a 'Commentary on the Book of Revelation.' It was about an inch and a half thick! As I began reading, I was aware at once that this was both spiritual and powerful. (A commentary walks the reader through the book, giving explanations in a verse-by-verse manner.) Soon, I realized that I wanted to take notes. I went downstairs and grabbed an old family Bible that was sitting on a shelf. It was large print, and had lots of room for making notes in the margins.
I devoured the commentary! I wrote notes all over my Bible. And the Lord was softening my heart. By the time I read about the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, and the gates of pearl (Rev. 21:21), I was convinced. I bowed my head to pray. "Lord, I know that I'm already saved, but if I'm not, please save me. And I know that my sins have already been forgiven, but if they're not, please forgive me of my sins. Do whatever you need to do so that I can go to heaven when I die."
There was no immediate change. I finished reading the book, and went to bed. However, when I woke up the next morning, I was a different person!
This commentary was just a small part of a large collection in a cardboard box in the downstairs coat closet. This box was filled with other commentaries, sermon booklets, and cassette tapes of teaching and preaching. Shoe boxes filled with teaching tapes! I started devouring this box one book at a time. The last half of my senior year is a blur, but I do remember reading, and reading, and reading. On into the summer, I read and listened to tapes, and took lots and lots of notes in my Bible.
And I haven't stopped yet!
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