Glorious life

Maybe you have asked yourself this question before. I, of all people, have often asked myself, “Why is life so good to me?”. I had a wonderful childhood with great parents and four unique siblings. I grew up in a free church (yes, I lived in the same house). And so faith in Jesus Christ, in the Creator God and the Bible was natural to me from a young age.

Enjoying life to the full

When I started my apprenticeship as an electronics technician in Zurich, “the big wide world” opened up for me. This was my chance: a whole new phase of life! Now I wanted to live my life the way I wanted. At the same time, I still went to church and believed in the existence of God. But in my life he should have nothing more to say: I wanted to find my own happiness. And so I enjoyed my life to the fullest. Every week, my fellow students and I would go out, all buy ourselves a bottle of high-proof liquor, and then I usually didn’t know much about the evening in question. I had a few superficial affairs with women during that time. Once I even had to flee from the police. But I thought: This is life, I live it like everyone else, I’m happy like this!

What really counts in life

There was lightning and thunder at the same time! I thought, “At any time, lightning must strike my room and the whole hut here will collapse!”. I had never experienced such a powerful thunderstorm. I was scared to death. Shortly before that, two young acquaintances of mine died due to a natural disaster, so I knew that death could catch me unprepared at any time as well. I lay in my bed and knew: My life does not behave! I am outwardly happy, but inwardly there is a big hole inside me! I knew the almighty God, but ignored him and excluded him from my life. I also realized that I deserved to go to hell because of that. Suddenly I felt I could imagine how cruel, how long and how lost it must be in that place. What a gruesome thought! How stupid was I to focus only on this transient life here on earth, instead of eternity? No, it wasn’t meant to be, I wanted to focus on what really mattered!

The turn of life

In my bed, I began to ask God to forgive me for my double life, for my sins and for ignoring Him. I asked Him to give me a second chance. I was now going to put all my eggs in one basket! “Everything you can have, God! Take my talents, my sins, my time, my money, my career, and my whole future-my whole life shall be yours! Do with me whatever you want”. When I woke up the next morning, I felt as if I had been relieved of ten kilograms – simply freed from my guilt. Instead, I was filled with a supernatural joy and love! I would have loved to run out into the street and hug every person and tell them about this incredible Jesus (I still want to do that today)! Everyone needs to hear about this Jesus and what he did for us! To experience Him is just so mind blowing!

New life

I was really “in love” with Jesus! I was tired of reading the free newspapers – instead I devoured the Bible and tried to get to know Him better every day and become more like Him. I went home and just wanted to talk to this God and worship Him. Many things this God changed positively in my life. I no longer felt the need to get drunk – that initial group had vanished into thin air anyway. My relationship with my parents suddenly became very friendly and deep! I began to read the Bible together with a colleague – today my wife – and to exchange ideas about it. She was also the one I admired because of her lived faith – she was an inspiration for me to finish with my double life.

Life in abundance

There are many stories to tell about what I have experienced with this God in the meantime! I am still brightly excited about Him and think everyone on the whole earth should hear that Jesus died for their sins, and an eternal friendship with Almighty God is possible! Meanwhile, I attended a practical Bible school and am probably one of the happiest youth pastors. How did it come about? I got a request just in time from a pastor I didn’t know. I asked God if I should go there. I asked him for a clear answer in an evening service. In the middle of the sermon, the preacher I didn’t know said, “God says to you, ‘Go!’ And when God says to you, ‘Go,’ it means to turn off your mind, turn off your emotions, and go.”

The best life

In conclusion, I would like to tell you: “God wants only the best for you. And from my own experience I can say that a deep relationship with our Almighty Creator God is the best thing for you! God says the same thing about Himself: ‘I have come that they may have abundant life’ (The Bible, John 10:10). Try it out for yourself! Dearest greetings, Manuel”