The Lord has totally changed my life such that I will always be indebted to Him for His love for me.

His work in me began at the age of 13. As a youngster, I was crafty, mischievous and rebellious, with my unruly behaviour culminating in a shoplifting spree lasting an entire year. Just before I turned 13, I was caught by a store detective: inches away from conviction. My father was beyond words.

The experience was a huge wake-up call to me, and the Lord used it to turn me to His word. I had a small Gideons’ New Testament and Psalms given to me by my school: every morning before rising, I would read the daily reading. I do not know why I read it, but it transformed my life outwardly: I began to apply myself at school and in sport. I began to go to church by myself; previously, I would go with my dad, although he did not trust in Jesus. My life became successful in worldly terms, and I thought I was a Christian.

At the age of 18, I left home to take a gap year before studying at university. I was accustomed to going to church, and for the first time, I joined a church youth group. One evening, an guest speaker encouraged us in our evangelism. In doing so, he told his own story, about how he had sinned, how Jesus had forgiven him, and how he knew Jesus personally. I had never heard anything about being in a personal relationship with Jesus, wow! It made me think.

That night, I read through the evangelistic booklet that he gave us: “Knowing God personally”. I read Two Ways to Live, and everything that I had read in the Bible over my teenage years fitted into place like a jigsaw puzzle. That night, I prayed the prayer to invite Jesus to be Lord and Saviour in my life, and to change me into the person he wants me to be. That night was the first time I really, really prayed to the Lord; I was aware of the universe being open and the Lord listening to my prayer. Humbling!

That day was just the beginning of the story: the Lord has done incredible and innumerable things in my life since then. All in all, He has given me love where there was just bitterness and intense loneliness, joy and hope where there was dark and chronic depression, and peace where there was aggression and obsessive idol-worship. And he is still working in me to make me the person he wants me to be (just ask my wife - still a long way to go!).

Thank you Jesus for being the best thing that ever happened to me!

 

Rich Laver

9:45am Mid-morning church member