I was now faced with the responsibility that, if the Bible’s message is true, I needed to receive it.  I read a pamphlet entitled “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation,” and pondered it for several days. The Bible passages in it were especially powerful, for, as I now understand, the Bible is not an ordinary book:  “For the word of God is living and powerful , and sharper than any two-edged sword,  piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).  I will never forget the day I bowed my heart before God.  I had gone through the motions of praying many times before, but this time was different.  For the first time, I was aware that I was speaking to the God who had created me and the universe!

           That day, I asked forgiveness for my sin and believed on Jesus Christ.  I wish I could say I understood everything that happened to me, but the Bible says that salvation is powerful, and that it is a mystery (1 Timothy 3:16).  I can only say that by God’s grace, I am completely changed.  What I once thought of as “happiness” now seems so shallow and unfulfilling:   “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold , all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Bible, which was once foolishness to me, is now precious:  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  (1 Cor. 1:18).  I can only say that salvation – the “new birth” (John 3:7) -- is God’s grace to me and to the countless millions of others who have experienced it.

                                                                                                                         —Keith Comparetto