About – My Testimony
The following is my testimony of Christ.
Introduction
When Denesh asked me to share my testimony on how I became a Christian, I reluctantly accepted with a sense of trepidation. (pause) You see, my life has been ordinary. I haven’t gone through any persecution, suffering, nor death-defying experiences. But looking back, I realize that even though I’m ordinary, God has revealed himself to me in the most extraordinary way. That’s what I would like to share with you tonight.
God the Idol
I have had many misconceptions about God, starting from young, when I thought God was an idol. My Grandma is a devout Taoist, and everyday, she would pray to an idol of the Jade Emperor for our safety. I believed her prayers worked then. In fact, to make sure I was ahead in the heaven department, when no one was around, I would light up a joss stick and offer my prayers too. It’s always good to be doubly sure, I thought.
God the Superhero
As a kid, I loved reading comics like Superman and Spiderman. One day, I was captivated by the Picture Bible aka Comic Bible which I found in my auntie’s place. The stories of Moses and the parting of the red sea, Elijah running faster than the chariot of Ahab, Jesus healing the sick were far more down-to-earth than that of Superman or Spiderman, for these were ordinary humans, not some alien from outer space. God was now more than an idol now. He was a superhero in a comic book!
God the Vending Machine
It wasn’t until I was 9 and transferred to a Methodist school, ACS that the notion of God became more concrete. Every morning, someone would read the bible over the PA system, and pray. Being young and not wanting to seem out of place, I just followed what everybody did and bowed my head. Soon enough, I discovered prayer and used it to my full advantage! Before taking a penalty kick in soccer, I would pray that God would let me score! When I forgot to bring my homework, I would pray that my teacher would forget, and she did! My prayers were answered a number of times! I truly believed that I was a Christian, because God answered my prayers! I soon however lost interest later on, after God failed to answer my prayers repeatedly.
God the Matchmaker
Things therefore took a back seat until I was 17 and in Junior College, where I got interested in a girl who had the cutest smile to go along with the cutest bright yellow bag with a smiley face on it. She was a Christian, and she told me that she couldn’t go out with a non-Christian. Good thing I believed in God! She urged me to go a church. I did, but didn’t do so too regularly. God was a convenient matchmaker then! I must add she did become my fiancée later on.
God the Perfectionist
I went to UK for my university education it was there that I learnt more about Christ and realized that Christianity wasn’t as easy as I thought it to be. My best friends in UK were non-Christian, and they ‘hated’ my Christian friends because they were hypocritical. That hit home, because I realized I was a hypocrite as well! In bible study or church, we would be clamouring to wash dishes. But outside of that, I’ll be lazing about waiting for other people to do so for me. I was very close to rejecting God then, because I felt I couldn’t measure up to His standards. I thought believing in God meant being good, and I couldn’t do it.
God, the Hound of Heaven
Despite that, God never gave up on a sinner like me. He showed me glimpses of heaven and made me long for Him. Let me explain. Just as God had revealed himself to me in the past through the comics, through primary school, and through my girlfriend, He opened my eyes to him. When I get up in the morning, he opened my eyes to the beauty of his creation. Through my friends, both Non-Christian and Christian, I saw the goodness of friendship. Through education, I marveled at the wonders of science. Through church, I learnt about Jesus’s mercy, grace and love. Through my fiancé, I discovered the meaning of forgiveness, faithfulness and love. You see, when I was in UK, I confessed to her that I had crushes on 2 other girls, and she amazingly trusted God and accepted me for my faults, even though she was far away in Singapore.
All this culminated during a bible conference that I went to, where a thousand students from different countries were worshipping and sharing in the holy communion, where we remember Jesus’s death on the cross for us through the breaking of the bread and the drinking of wine. I realized then the full meaning of it all, that God sent his Son to die on the cross for me. I was a Christian.
Conclusion
When I look back, I realized that God has never stopped calling. He has called me through even the comic book, creation and through my friends. But most of all, he has called me to Him through Jesus as I read and understood what the Bible taught about Him. Because I know that my Lord Jesus died for my sins, and rose again in his body, someday I will too. I know that because my sins are paid, I will not experience hell. The fleeting glimpses of heaven which have been given unto me, the comics, my fiancée, the bible conference, friends and family would not be taken away from me. Instead, their intensity would be multiplied by infinity, and their duration by eternity, when I meet my Lord Jesus in Heaven.
Friends, tonight we will hear sobering words warning us about hell. But we will also hear words of comfort, for Jesus has provided for us the way to heaven. If what Andrew says tonight is true, how we respond would have eternal consequences. I therefore plead with you to inspect the Bible for yourself. I believe it to be true, and I pray you would too.
Thank you for your time and patience.
