I was a serving Police Officer and I seemed to be making really good progress in my work and enjoying it.  We had three teenage children, we had gone to the local church every Sunday and were involved in the work it was doing.  But for me something was missing.  I thought all I needed to do every Sunday was recite the words from the Book of Common Prayer, acknowledge my ‘manifold sins and wickedness’ and then I would be alright for the week ahead.  Something was missing in my relationship with God and I think I tried to fill that through being good and being a useful member of the church and society.

 

In 1988 our church welcomed a new vicar, but there was something about Andrew and his wife Pat that was very different from the vicar we had in the past.  They seemed a lot more joyful and confident about who they were and they were very friendly too!  But the main difference was they talked a lot about Jesus. At first I couldn’t understand why they were doing this but I gradually realised that Jesus was not just someone they talked about, but He was actually a real part of their lives.  We joined a midweek group at the vicarage, something that had never happened before, everyone considered the vicarage a bit like the ‘inner sanctum’ or ‘Holy of Holies’ and to get invited to the vicarage meant you had really arrived, as far as I was concerned!  But in the midweek group something was stirring in me and I was beginning to realise that I too needed and wanted Jesus to come into my life.  A lot of the anxiety I had about attending church and being a good person seemed to fade away and I began to believe that Jesus wanted to have a close relationship with me too.

 

We had started a course for new Christians [I thought I had been a Christian since joining the church!] called ‘Saints Alive’, which was a Church of England forerunner to the ALPHA course. At the end of the course we were given the opportunity to accept Jesus into our lives and be baptised in the Holy Spirit.  This was really risky for me, as a policeman I was used to being in control and people acknowledging my authority.  Jeannie and I did this together and it was the most peaceful and joyful experience I had had in all my life.  I realised that from now on I would be a different person, what the bible calls a ‘new creation’.  I remember being told that God wanted me to receive Psalm 121, the verse that says God will ‘not let your foot slip, because He is watching over you, He never sleeps, that He would watch over me, and no harm would come to me’

 

I can truthfully say that God has kept the promises He made to me when I accepted Jesus as my Saviour.  There are many times when I have faced danger and many other times when things have gone very wrong in my life, but I can honestly say that no harm has come to me.  Yes I have made mistakes and done the wrong thing, there’s no guarantee of living a perfect life when you become a Christian, but I know that God loves me and He cares for me and He forgives me when I have done the wrong thing.

 

Since I committed my whole life to Jesus I have felt able to let go of the things that would normally create problems for me and I have learned to trust Jesus for ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING in my life.  I have received so many good things in my life, the bible calls these blessings.

 

I don’t pretend to be the finished product.  Asking Jesus into my life was really only the beginning, the start of a journey and I am still on that journey.  I know I will need to continue to let Jesus take all my burdens but I also know that He is the most faithful and loving person that anyone could ever trust with their life.