This Needs to Happen More Often to More People

Today (November 7, 2023) marks the 70th anniversary of the day I first understood what I must do to be a genuine, born-again, Christian.

I had been reading a pocket New Testament daily since August of 1953. By Saturday morning of November 7, 1953, I realized that although I had attended Sunday school all my life, I had never committed my life to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

That all changed when I stopped to pray for forgiveness and I received Christ as my personal Savior while delivering papers that cloudy Saturday morning. I have told my story many times here each November 7 anniversary date.

Not everyone enters a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ the same way. Many genuine Christians may not remember the time, date, and place when their life was transformed by this experience.

Times are much different now than they were in 1953. Just the same, I believe there are many practical lessons from my experience that apply to people today.

(1) I was motivated to start a serious and continuing practice of reading the New Testament for myself because I had been challenged all too often by my excellent high school Sunday school teachers at the Highland Park Baptist Church, John Boykin and Dean Sawdon, with questions I could not answer about the Bible. Rather than continue to be embarrassed by my lack of knowledge of the Bible, I decided to read it and study it for myself in self-defense!

(2) At the same time, a wonderful neighbor, Mrs. Helen Cole, who lived kitty-corner across the street from my home, asked me to babysit her two young children. While in her home I found that she had several Bibles on a shelf in the living room. That is where I first saw a Bible with center-column cross references. I followed them and soon learned how they worked.

(3) I was in the Boy Scouts and Mrs. Cole asked me to be her “Den Chief.” She had a Cub Scout Den which met at her home and I assisted her during the Cub Scout meetings.

(4) Mrs. Cole invited me to attend the high school youth group at Thoburn Methodist Church. The church was just two blocks away from my home, so I started attending the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) there on Sunday evenings before the evening service.

(5) About the second or third time I attended, I participated in a contest to see who would represent our MYF at the Holiness Youth Crusade annual Bible Quiz to be held on November 7, 1953. I won that local youth group contest–I’ve often thought the Lord had all the smarter young people stay home that day. The winner at the HYC rally at the Detroit Institute of Arts would receive a Bulova watch. I have never owned a Bulova watch, so you know I did not win the contest that day, but gained something better and more permanent! In preparation for that quiz I continued reading the New Testament diligently. I recall reading from Matthew to Revelation and then again from Matthew to 2 Corinthians from September through the first week of November.

(6) It was while thinking about what I had read in the New Testament that I realized that I had never committed my life to Jesus Christ. So the cloudy morning of the quiz date, I stopped on Lumpkin Street after crossing in the middle of the block. As I folded the next Detroit Shopping News paper, I paused under the oak tree in front of the next house and prayed. I  remember whistling the Gospel tune to “Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, not for the years of time alone, but for eternity” as I continued to deliver the rest of my papers.

I have since learned that researchers have found that anyone who will read the New Testament long enough each day (20 minutes or more, not necessarily all at one time), often enough each week (at least four days a week), consistently on a permanent basis, will experience real positive change in his or her life. I did that “by accident,” and have been reading the Bible ever since.

(7) From my Bible reading, I learned what it takes to receive eternal life. Just one verse in the Gospel of John tells enough for anyone to know what to continue to do:

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Cross Reference Bible Study for John 5:24 from:

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:

John 5:24
He that: Joh 3:16, Joh 3:18, Joh 3:36, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:47, Joh 8:51, Joh 11:26, Joh 12:44, Joh 20:31; Mar 16:16; Rom 10:11, 12, 13; 1Pe 1:21; 1Jn 5:1, 1Jn 5:11, 12, 13

and shall not: Joh 10:27, 28, 29, 30; Rom 8:1, Rom 8:16, 17, Rom 8:28, 29, 30, Rom 8:33, 34; 1Th 5:9; 2Th 2:13, 14; 1Pe 1:5

but: 1Jn 3:14

The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:

John 5:24

Verily. +Joh 1:51

He that. T1119. ✓Joh 3:16; Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36; Joh 6:40; Joh 6:47; Joh 8:51; *Joh 11:26; Joh 12:44; ✓Joh 20:31; Mar 16:16; *Rom 10:11, 12, 13; ✓Rom 14:12; 1Pe 1:21; ✓1Jn 5:1; 1Jn 5:11, 12, 13

heareth. Joh 8:43; +*Luk 8:18

believeth. Joh 20:31; Act 16:34; 1Jn 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13

hath. Eternal life is a present possession. ✓1Jn 5:13

everlasting. Gr. aionios, +Mat 18:8

and shall not. ✓Joh 10:27, 28, 29, 30; +*Joh 17:6; ✓Rom 8:1; Rom 8:16; Rom 8:17; Rom 8:28, 29, 30; Rom 8:33; Rom 8:34; ✓Eph 4:30; 1Th 5:9; *2Th 2:13; 2Th 2:14; 1Pe 1:5; *Jud 1:24

but. Mat 18:8; *1Jn 3:14

passed. ƒ144 (C1), +Gen 21:1

The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury: 

John 5:24
Verily. Joh 5:19, +Joh 1:51, +*Num 5:22, +Mat 5:18, +Mar 14:18.

He that. T1119, **Joh 3:16; **Joh 3:18; **Joh 3:36; Joh 6:40; Joh 6:47; Joh 8:51; *Joh 11:26; Joh 12:44; **Joh 20:31, Mar 16:16, *Rom 10:11, 12, 13; **Rom 14:12, 1Pe 1:21, **1Jn 5:1; **1Jn 5:11, 12, 13.

heareth. or, is hearing (Young). +Joh 8:43; Joh 12:37, 38, 39, 40, +**Isa 55:3, Mat 13:9, +*Mar 4:24, +*Luk 8:18, Act 3:22; Act 10:22, Rom 8:17, Heb 3:7.

my word. Gr. logos, Mar 9:32 note.

believeth. or, is believing (Young). +*Joh 3:16 note, Joh 3:36; **Joh 20:31, Act 10:43; Act 13:39; +Act 16:34, Rom 3:28; *Rom 4:5, Gal 3:22, Eph 2:8, 1Ti 1:16; **1Ti 4:10, Tit 3:8, Heb 6:1; *Heb 10:39, *1Pe 1:21, **1Jn 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

that sent me. Joh 5:23; Joh 5:38.

hath. Eternal life is a present possession. Joh 5:26; Joh 5:39, +Joh 8:12, Luk 10:42, **1Jn 5:13.

everlasting. Gr. aionios, +Mat 18:8, Joh 3:15, 16; Joh 6:68, **Rom 6:23.

and shall not. **Joh 10:27, 28, 29, 30; +*Joh 17:6, Rom 5:1, 2; Rom 5:9; **Rom 8:1; **Rom 8:16; **Rom 8:17; **Rom 8:28, 29, 30; **Rom 8:33; **Rom 8:34, **Eph 4:30, 1Th 5:9, *2Th 2:13; *2Th 2:14, 1Pe 1:5, *Jud 1:24.

into condemnation. or, will not suffer the consequences of judging (Newman and Nida, UBS Handbook: John). The proper translation here is condemnation, not judgment (cf. Mat 25:31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46; Rom 14:10; 2Co 5:10). Note that comes not into condemnation is conditioned on keeps on believing! Thus the test of true eternal security is to love God and keep His commandments (1Jn 2:3; 1Jn 5:2) [LNT, fn x]. Joh 5:22; Joh 5:29, Joh 3:18, **Rom 8:1, Rev 20:11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

but. Mat 18:8, *Col 1:13, *1Jn 3:14.

is passed. or, has already passed. Gr. metabainō (S# G3327, Mat 8:34). FS144C1, +Gen 21:1, *Psa 37:28, Isa 45:17; Isa 51:6, Col 1:13, 1Jn 3:14.

from death. A reference to spiritual death. +Gen 2:17 note. Pro 8:36; Pro 21:16, Isa 9:2, +Eze 18:4; +Eze 18:21, Luk 15:24; Luk 15:32, Rom 5:15; Rom 6:13; Rom 8:6, 1Co 15:56 note. *2Co 5:14, *+Eph 2:1, 2, 3; *+Eph 2:5; Eph 5:14, Col 2:13, 1Ti 5:6, Jas 1:15; Jas 5:20, 1Jn 3:14, Rev 3:1.

unto life. Psa 133:3, Pro 16:22, Rom 6:4, 2Co 5:15, Col 1:13; Col 2:13; Col 3:3, 2Ti 1:1; 2Ti 1:10, 1Jn 3:14; *1Jn 5:12.