Life Interrupted

I wanted to land on Mars. To become an astronaut. Really!

The 1960s was an exciting time to be a student. Almost anything seemed possible. The United States’ space program was on an exciting roll. President Kennedy said we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade and I believed him.

Americans watched and prayed during the Mercury, Gemini and the Apollo programs. We mourned our three heroes on Apollo 1: Grissom, White and Chaffee. But we still believed.

In school I focused on math and science. I read all I could about the space program. I built a model of the Titan II rocket that launched the Gemini capsule.

NASA’s plan called for an Apollo moon landing in 1969. After it succeeded the next step was a planned mission to Mars in the early 1980s. And I believed I could be on that mission.

But God interrupted my life.

“Now hold on just a minute! How does God do that?”

It happened to me during the summer of 1968 at Camp Ha-Lu-Wa-Sa in Hammonton, New Jersey. For some that may seem like ancient history. But for me it seems like yesterday.

All summer I served as a counselor for junior age boys. For 8 weeks I was away from home, family and friends. There was no television or radio. Just a different group of 7 boys each week.

Pastors and missionaries came and shared their stories. They challenged campers to serve God and others instead of self. To make an impact on the world and a difference for eternity.

Campers were invited to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of their sin. They were challenged to make Christ Lord of their lives and serve him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

When the first of my campers responded to the challenge, I prayed with him as he became a follower of Christ and a child of God. Afterwards I rejoiced with him over his peace, joy and forgiveness. And that the Bible said his name was written in God’s Book of Life.

At that moment the direction of my own life was changed for the second time. The first time was the day I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. The second time was when I saw that God could use me to point others to Christ and increase the Kingdom of Heaven one person at a time.

Let me tell you, there is nothing more exciting in the world than that. The most thrilling ride on a rocket ship couldn’t begin to compare with the experience of leading someone else to Jesus!

My life had touched eternity and I would never be the same.

That fall I returned to my high school a different person. The first dance concert I attended seemed trivial and inconsequential. While still exciting, the space program had lost its luster.

Instead of being consumed by what others thought of me, I was more concerned with pleasing God. As I began to study my Bible, it came alive as never before and changed my life.

My relationship with God continued to grow. I knew that, whatever I did with my life, God would come first. Serving him and others in Jesus’ name became my primary goal.

I have never regretted the day God interrupted my life. Instead of landing people on a heavenly body like Mars, I decided it was more thrilling to show people how to get to Heaven.

Following and serving Jesus has been more exciting than anything I could have imagined.

It can be for you, too, if you follow him. Jesus offers forgiveness, peace and a life of service like no other. It may interrupt your life, but you’ll never regret it!

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!