Though I was studying music, I worked on the grounds crew for the college. Much of the work was monotonous—mowing grass, trimming bushes and spreading mulch— but the hidden blessing in all this was the time I was able to spend with God.
Up to this point my time at college had been a time of escape and running from God. I was bitter about my parent’s divorce and the church I had gone to in high school, so I hadn’t set foot in a church on my own initiative for three years. I poured my life into jazz music, friends and parties that all left me with no joy.
Jesus said “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” (John 6:44 NIV). God began to draw me in the fall of 1998. He put people in my path who were following Jesus. New friends and people I hadn’t even met were praying and asking God to work in my life.
I considered myself an atheist or at least an agnostic, but I was beginning to rethink my position. I began asking honest and sincere questions just wanting to know the truth about God. Does He exist? Is the Bible true or just some made up story? Is Jesus really the only way to God as He said He was?
In January of ’99 I decided to take a class at Elmhurst called “The Roots and Branches of the Christian Faith”. We worked through the ancient Apostles’ Creed and read portions of the Bible. Then we were required to write and defend our own personal belief statement. This was a difficult assignment for me. It was easy to hide behind my doubts instead of being honest and acknowledging that maybe God had given us the Bible for our good.
I decided to try reading the Bible with an open mind. Then I decided to try going to church again. Three weeks later I sat in a pew before the service had even started and said a simple prayer. “God, I’m still not sure if You’re there but I want to know You. I’ve been living life my way and I realize that’s not right. Please change my heart and reveal the truth to me. I’ll do what You want me to. I give up my life to You.”
Standing behind a lawnmower for six hours a day gives you a lot of time to think. There I was just seven months later spending my breaks reading the Bible, and most of my time while mowing praying to God and thinking about the things I had read on my break.
Trusting God and understanding what it means to “be saved” was a process for me. It took a few months before I really understood that when Jesus suffered and died on the cross He took my place. He took the punishment that I deserved and I received God’s grace: a free gift which saves me through faith in Jesus Christ alone and nothing else. Going back to school for my senior year became an adventure as God was continually transforming me from the inside out.
The Bible teaches that God made you, loves you and wants you to have a real relationship with Him as your Heavenly Father. My prayer for you is that you’ll ask some honest questions about what you believe and why, and respond in a way that will bring you closer to Him.
Up to this point my time at college had been a time of escape and running from God. I was bitter about my parent’s divorce and the church I had gone to in high school, so I hadn’t set foot in a church on my own initiative for three years. I poured my life into jazz music, friends and parties that all left me with no joy.
Jesus said “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…” (John 6:44 NIV). God began to draw me in the fall of 1998. He put people in my path who were following Jesus. New friends and people I hadn’t even met were praying and asking God to work in my life.
I considered myself an atheist or at least an agnostic, but I was beginning to rethink my position. I began asking honest and sincere questions just wanting to know the truth about God. Does He exist? Is the Bible true or just some made up story? Is Jesus really the only way to God as He said He was?
In January of ’99 I decided to take a class at Elmhurst called “The Roots and Branches of the Christian Faith”. We worked through the ancient Apostles’ Creed and read portions of the Bible. Then we were required to write and defend our own personal belief statement. This was a difficult assignment for me. It was easy to hide behind my doubts instead of being honest and acknowledging that maybe God had given us the Bible for our good.
I decided to try reading the Bible with an open mind. Then I decided to try going to church again. Three weeks later I sat in a pew before the service had even started and said a simple prayer. “God, I’m still not sure if You’re there but I want to know You. I’ve been living life my way and I realize that’s not right. Please change my heart and reveal the truth to me. I’ll do what You want me to. I give up my life to You.”
Standing behind a lawnmower for six hours a day gives you a lot of time to think. There I was just seven months later spending my breaks reading the Bible, and most of my time while mowing praying to God and thinking about the things I had read on my break.
Trusting God and understanding what it means to “be saved” was a process for me. It took a few months before I really understood that when Jesus suffered and died on the cross He took my place. He took the punishment that I deserved and I received God’s grace: a free gift which saves me through faith in Jesus Christ alone and nothing else. Going back to school for my senior year became an adventure as God was continually transforming me from the inside out.
The Bible teaches that God made you, loves you and wants you to have a real relationship with Him as your Heavenly Father. My prayer for you is that you’ll ask some honest questions about what you believe and why, and respond in a way that will bring you closer to Him.
Jon Althoff and his wife Shea have one daughter and live in Kalamazoo. Jon is the Worship Director at Calvary Bible Church.
