It’s easy to get comfortable doing things we shouldn’t. Well, I got comfortable going in and out of jail.
I didn’t sell drugs to make money. I sold to support my drug habit. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, you name it. There just wasn’t enough out there for me. For over 30 years, my lifestyle was my way or no way.
Eventually, though, a parole officer almost caught me drinking at a halfway house. I was on high-control, so that would mean an automatic return to prison for me.
Normally, I never got scared to go back into prison. Just a few days before that, I was speeded up, cussing out officers in a police station! But this time, holding that beer, it scared me because I didn’t want to go back.
When the parole officer didn’t catch me, I prayed “God, if you’re for real, get me into the rescue mission in the morning, and I will give my life to you.”
And He did.
So I went to the mission, then to church and spoke with one of the elders. I didn’t understand what was going on in the service, but a friend had been having me read Ephesians 4:25-32. I saw that each of those verses was me. I was that unforgiving thief.
The elder asked if I wanted Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and I just said, “I guess so,” not sure what to expect.
John 10:10 says “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” As I look at the life God has now given me, He’s given me a strong Christian wife, my daughters back, three grandkids, and 20 years of sobriety.
Now, God has me serving in the Bread of Life Rescue Mission, as well as a God-dependent recovery group called The Most Excellent Way in Arizona. I tell the guys that come in that we have two steps, not twelve.
1. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior
2. Stay with Him for the rest of your life
Those are the only steps you need.
The old me is gone! I’m not the convict, the alcoholic, the stupid idiot. He’s gone. The new creation is here, and I am going to live for Him the rest of my life.
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