For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son (John 3:16-18 NIV).

By Charles W. Schuler

I was 55 years old the first time I got on my knees, confessed my sins and asked Jesus into my heart. I had just retired early and my wife, Marianne, and I had a goal of sailing away to all the nice places.

The last thing I had planned was Jesus stopping me in my tracks!

I have always believed in God. As a small boy I loved going to the country for summer vacation with my mother. Since we lived in Brooklyn, my parents felt it was important to occasionally get away from the city.

We would venture to a small farm and eat plenty of eggs, fresh milk, and lots of fresh vegetables. At night I laid in a grassy field and stared up at the star-filled sky. Where did all those stars come from? Who placed them in order? I knew someone greater than me had created all I could see and I wanted to know more.

As a young adult I grew to love physics and the world we live in. I couldn’t learn enough about math, the stars, electricity, weather, water, gravity, pressure and so much more. I learned math not only describes every (action and reaction), but predicts it. The more I studied physics, the more I was convinced God is a master mathematician. Our world is comprised of recurring and predictable events.

No life, incident, invention, or equation is an accident. I reasoned, therefore, there must be a God.

But just believing in God did not make me a Christian. And I couldn’t grasp the concept of Jesus being the son of God. I read the Bible, but couldn’t understand most of it. I read books explaining how God woos us like a special courter. C. S. Lewis wrote some of my favorite books because he had a different way of looking at faith—and the vocabulary to confuse most of us.

Then I read “More Than A Carpenter” by Josh McDowell, detailing predictions of the Old Testament prophets. Did you know there are over 300 prophecies, predicted by different prophets over the course of thousands of years—all fulfilled through the life and death of one person, Jesus? This mathematical improbability got my attention.

Understanding the magnitude of Jesus’ existence raised another question, who would die for a lie?

The twelve disciples who left everything to follow Jesus all died professing His words were and are true.

 

It took me 55 years, but God is patient. And he loves our questions! He gave us the desire for knowledge because He knows all Creation points back to Him.

Is God wooing you? Have you given your life to Jesus? Did you accept Jesus as a child? Or are you full of good questions?

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