Believing in God was the farthest thing in my mind as a teenager. Back then I believed that you came from nothing and when you die you go back to nothing. The only problem was that in between these two states of nothingness I needed to find meaning because the 70 to 80 years I was probably going to live was the total time allotment I had.
So back in 1980 I read all kinds of books on different belief systems desperately trying to find the meaning I was in search of. The only problem was that after reading all of these books I had more questions about the meaning of life than before I started my quest. The result – depression and despair.
But one day a friend gave me a copy of the New Testament and told me to read it. Well I had never read the New Testament before but I was an expert on why I didn’t need to read it. But I did, and this book said that no matter how hard I tried, and where I might look, I was never going to find the meaning I was searching for. The only way I could was to admit that there was only one way to find meaning and that was through Jesus Christ – the one area I had never bothered to look into until I read the New Testament.
For you see the Bible says that we are all born into sin and that sin has separated us from our Maker – God. And until we realize this we will never find the meaning we are looking for. I tried to fill the void of nothingness with things and pleasure but they only delivered more depression and despair. You see sin was my master and I was a slave to it. As I continued to read the Bible little did I know that the Holy Spirit was convicting me to admit that I indeed was a sinner in need of a savior. And one day – it was October 12, 1981 – I finally realized what the great French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, said was so true when he proclaimed that everyone is born with a spiritual vacuum that only Jesus Christ can fill. And so on that wonderful fall day back in 1981 I gave my heart to Jesus and I became born again.
Well almost 40 years have passed and I have read my Bible over, and over, and over again and hope to share with you in the devotions ahead why the Bible is the most amazing, intellectually sound, and transformational book ever written; and is the only book that can fill the valley of the void of nothingness that so many of us, sadly, struggle with all of our lives. Stay tuned!