Life Through A Set Of Traffic Lights

I had always been brought up to being on time wherever we went,
so imagine my horror when stopped at traffic lights outside the
factory gates, to find it was 8.30am. By the time I had parked my
car and arrived in my office I was late for the very first time in my
life!

Throughout the day I cursed, foulmouthed and complained to
anyone who came in contact with me and even on arriving home at
8.00pm in the evening, I was still miserable and thoroughly bad
tempered. Following my usual drink/s in the evening, I eventually
settled down and began to share with my wife, my day's experience.

I remember saying "I cannot believe that a set of traffic lights
would so disturb me, here I am with everything I want or need, not
owing anyone a penny, and look at me, agitated and disturbed,
what on earth is life all about?"

That was the start of my seeking the answer to my question.
During the next few months I joined the "jet" set at the local golf
club, one of the richest clubs in England, but I did not find the
answer there, I studied the major religions of the world (11 at the
time), but did not find the answer there, I dabbled with drugs and
all I received was bad heads! What was I to do, where was I to go?

On arriving home one day, I found a book called "Prison to Praise", I
was fascinated by its contents, although I did not agree with a word
of it! I telephoned my brother-in-law who had originally sent it (he
always sent me spiritual books for my birthday). I told him that I
could not understand the author's conclusions, he said "don't worry I
will send you another book by the same author called "Power in
Praise" this will explain everything! On receiving and reading this
book, not only did I strongly disagree with the contents, I took it to
the local minister of the church, who also agreed with my
conclusions!! Nevertheless, I was again fascinated by the author's
thoughts and sought help in understanding where he was coming from.

The weeks went by, I was still searching for what real life was all
about, eventually I met up with Tom, a born-again Christian. I told
him my story to date and he advised me to study up on the life of
Jesus, something I had not yet done, even though I had looked at
Christianity as being my possible answer. I found my new study
incredibly challenging, but continued to argue away the facts. That
is until I looked at the story of the cross and the resurrection of
Christ and found I could argue it away no longer; I was in a corner,
a very uncomfortable corner, one that was calling me to make a
decision to either ignore the facts or accept Jesus as a real and
living person, in fact accept him as my Saviour and Lord.

You see, I began to understand that Jesus as the Son of God, had
come to give me and others life, real life and by dying on the cross,
he had taken my sins which had separated me from God in the first
place, down to the grave with him. By accepting Jesus as my
Saviour, I could then be re-united with God and brought into a new
understanding and way of life, which was not just for now, but for
eternity.

Could I ignore such an offer? So in my own quiet way, I cried to
Jesus, if you are really real, please be real to me now! I cannot
explain what then took place, but I do know that I immediately
experienced a peace that I had never known before, after all those
months of searching, I began to change and without me seemingly
doing anything, my attitude and outlook to life became so different.
People, work colleagues, neighbours, friends, were constantly
asking me what had happened, I seemed so different to them, there
was a countenance of peace and joy all around me and my
language and ways were different to what they had previously known.

Well, that was over 35 years ago and I can now say that when I
accepted Jesus as my Saviour and Lord all those years ago, it was
the most important decision I ever made! My life has indeed
completely changed and I have now found the anwer to my
question of what life is all about.

You and I, were created to have life and fellowship with God, to live
according to his ways and to enjoy daily, his peace, provision and
protection, things which many in the world are today seeking for. I
have discovered I now have a real and meaningful purpose in life, a
purpose of substance. Jesus said ..."I am come that you might have
life and have it more abundantly" I no longer live for myself
anymore, but in union with the God who created me. I am no
longer frightened of death, because I know that the decision I made
has enabled me to look forward to eternal life with him.

There is much more to tell and the above only represents small
excerpts of what originally happened to me, but if you would like to
know more, I would be delighted to share my experience with you.

God Bless You,
Ron Tempest



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