H OW CHR IST IAN ITY WORKS — 1
A Housewife By Colleen Townsend Evans and us as individuals, to Himself through Christ His Son. Now I had gone to church most of my life, and I know I must have heard that story before, and yet I had never heard the words in a way that I could understand them clearly. I had never been able to grasp the gospel; and, what is more, I had never seen it presented in a way that attracted me to it. But these young people I met, spoke the message clearly, emphasizing it with Scripture, such as Jesus said, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Fath er, but by me.” I could see by their lives that what they said they meant with all their hearts. They were not empty words but words that had changed their very lives, had revolutionized everything about them. I was desperately hungry for what these young people had, and so one week-end I went away to a conference with them. After thinking about the things I had heard, and the claims of Christ, I got up very early one morning and went out for a walk. I felt a tre mendous tug at my heart, a tug that kept saying, “Give God a chance in your life,” and although I knew very little about prayer, I got down and prayed. I told God that if the message I had been hearing was true, if Christ was really who and what He claimed to be, and if He could do what these young people said, I wanted to give Him my life completely. I wanted Him to be my Saviour from the self that was eating at my heart, from pride, and from the selfish ambition that was coming into my life. I wanted Him to be my Lord; to take over everything, and to give me what He had given these other young people. The moment I said “ Yes” to Christ, something wonderful hap pened. There was no fanfare of
S even years ago I was in a position where many of my friends would say to me, “What an excit ing, happy life you live! You have everything in the world to make you happy.” And in the eyes of society, I suppose I had. I had just signed a contract with a film studio, and although it was by no means the largest contract in Hollywood, it was a promise of more money than I ever thought I would make; and with it a promise of a certain amount of fame and prestige and a place in a creative profession which I enjoyed. Yet, in the moments when I was really honest with myself, I knew there was a restlessness within, a deep need within my heart for something more important than self, and my own career, and self ish ambition. Then I met a group of young people in a Hollywood church, and through them I heard the most glorious story of all, the story of God reconciling the world,
emotion, no visions and voices, but for the first time God became real to me, and I knew that Christ was what He claimed to be. I felt won derful—clean and fine for the first time in my life. And I had a hap piness that I had never known be fore. I found that to give your heart and life to Christ is the most excit ing, thrilling experience in the world; it is to find a happiness and peace that I never knew I could have until that moment. I have found that to follow Christ is a challenge and a thrill, and it is not always easy. It means that I can no longer stand back and be as it were a mere spectator of life; I have to get into it, and help to do something about its need, as Christ Himself did. We read in Matthew’s Gospel how He had compassion on the multitudes and on people who were ill and in distress. I found that I cannot just look on at the world and its problems—the hatred among nations, and between races —that I must no longer be part of the problem; I have to be part of the answer to the problem. I would appeal especially to young people. Respond to the call of this Saviour Christ who can revo lutionize your life, who not only asks you to follow Him, but who gives you the power to be a good soldier for Him. He asks you to align your life with His, and He will give you a peace that the world can never understand. If you are hungry in heart, as I was a few years back, not for money or fame or prestige, but for something deep er, hungry for a happiness that does not depend on material things, and a peace that passeth all understand ing, I urge you to give Christ a chance. Seven years ago I did that, and now I am more convinced than ever before that the only life worth living is the Christian life. The only One who is worth following in these days is Christ Himself.
TH E K IN G 'S BU SINESS
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