Leon’s Story

From my earliest childhood, I remember believing that God existed somewhere. The trees and sky gave evidence of this fact to my young, impressionable mind. God seemed distant, however, and far away.

My mother would bring me, along with my younger sister and brother, to church regularly. There I heard about Jesus Christ, of His great love for all people, His death and resurrection from the dead and how He wanted to be my Savior and Lord. But in my heart, I wanted to live my own life and refused to put my life into God’s control. We ceased attending church when I was twelve, which made me happy because now I could sleep later on Sundays. I lived my teen years “doing my own thing” and entered college the same way.

My father was a career naval enlisted man. As a boy, I went with him on board his ship to visit and to have fun. I noticed that the officers had power and prestige. If I could become an officer, I thought, my life would have a purpose. In college I joined the ROTC program so that upon graduation I would receive an officer’s commission. As a college senior, with graduation day approaching, I realized that becoming a military officer would not satisfy my longing for a meaningful purpose in life. This situation only increased my inner feelings of restlessness.

In my heart I knew they wanted to speak about Jesus Christ. I said we could talk, and they asked me if I was a Christian. They didn’t ask if I went to church or did good deeds, but rather if I had a personal relationship with God. My answer was “no.” These two men then brought out their Bibles from their back pockets and began to show me from the Bible how to become a Christian, specifically that “all have sinned” and disobeyed God (that was certainly true of me), that Jesus Christ paid the penalty on the cross for my rebellion, and that He rose from the dead to reign as Lord forever. I remember one Bible verse clearly from Revelation 3:20. Jesus says “Behold, I stand at the door [of a person's life] and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.” This verse really spoke to my heart, for I knew Jesus had wanted to do this in my life since I was six years old. He had been patiently knocking for almost sixteen years. They asked me if I wanted to become a Christian. I said, “yes.” We prayed together in that cafeteria, and as a deliberate act of my will, I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins and to enter my life as my Savior and Lord. He would be the “boss” of my life.

Jesus kept His word, and at that moment, He came into my heart and I became a Christian. God began to work in my life little by little, first by cleaning up my language and giving me a desire to pray, to read the Bible, to go to church, to love Him and to love people. It has been an exciting life these past fifty-two years with Jesus Christ. He has guided me through good times and rough times. God has given me a real sense of purpose in life—to know Christ and to make Him known to other people.

Your friend,

Leon