Life takes strange paths some times. In September 2001, I invited Jesus Christ into my life. Below is what happened about half a year before that.

I wasn't a drug addict or alcoholic, nor did I have much trouble in life. I had a wife (Karin), a home, good education and work. In fact, my life was quite okay. But I didn't believe in God, or rather, I couldn't believe in God, as my "logical and intellectual" way of thinking made it impossible. I was an involuntary atheist. I simply couldn't make myself believe in something I never had any sort of proof of, or experience of. And no one else could make me believe. For three years I had been married to Karin, who had met Jesus already as a teenager. We had spoken about God, many, many times, but I really didn't understand much about what she said. Instead my prejudice against Christians grew. I didn't have any interest in the Christian life. However, sometimes I came along to church or some Christian meeting, because I tried to be nice to her.

One Saturday, Karin and I had a really bad fight. We couldn't find any solution to our problem and thus simply stopped arguing. It was a deadlock, and neither of us could see any way to sort things out. It was a bad situation, real bad. This was the same Saturday she had planned that we should go to a Christian meeting in a nearby town. Because of our fight, we had already missed the first session. But she was persistent and wanted to go there, and I thought; what the heck, nothing has ever happened on these meetings before, and nothing will happen now, so sure, we can go, it's always interesting to hear what these people have to say. I had no expectations whatsoever.

So we went to the meeting, where the preacher spoke about the Holy Spirit, how Christians needs to be filled over and over again with the Holy Spirit. He was calm and can’t be described as particularly charismatic. Everything he said sounded quite okay to me. At the end of the meeting, the preacher asked people to come up to the stage so that he and others could pray for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And many people did go. Over half of the participants went up there. Nothing strange happened to them. Someone just laid their hands on them and prayed, and that was it. By some strange reason, I too wanted to go, as I though that perhaps if I go up there now, something will happen to me. But I was too scared. What if someone sees me, someone that I know?

Karin noticed that there was something happening to me and asked if I wanted to go up there, and she also offered to come with me, but I said I didn't want to. So she asked if she and two of our friends that happened to sit behind us could pray for me right there where we sat. That was okay with me, no problem. So they laid their hands on me and prayed, right there where we sat at the back of the room. I didn't hear what they said as they where whispering, and I didn't feel anything special, except that I cried a little, which was very embarrassing. It felt good letting it out though, considering that we just had a fight. The meeting ended and that was it.

After the meeting, when we got out to the car, I got a strange feeling in my whole body, from head to toe. It felt like I had just been literally cleaned from all garbage and bad thoughts from old fights collected over several years. I was relaxed and in total harmony and felt love to everyone and everything. This was far, far beyond something I ever had experienced! While driving I had to constantly say to myself "Concentrate on the driving!" as I was so relaxed. I tried to analyze myself. What is this? I had no idea. It was just great! I wanted to tell Karin what was going on, but I though that if I try to describe this, it would go away. But it didn't go away! This "feeling" stayed with me for two whole days! I was so incredibly happy. "You are shining like the sun", Karin told me.

In the middle of all this, I made a decision that this is my proof that there is a God. This experience is not natural. It is not within reason that I react like this just because of listening to a preacher and someone puts their hands on me and prays a few words. No way! The intellectual "mind constructions" that had been built over the years in my head, walls that I could not pass over, where just smashed down!

Okay, so I got a very personal proof that blew away my intellectual blocking. There is a God! Thank you God for that. However, this didn't mean that I automatically said yes to Jesus and a Christian life. It took half a year until I could do that. Piece by piece God corrected things in me, among other things the prejudice against Christians and Christian music. In fact, I didn't call myself a Christian until the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ, even though I was baptized as a child in the Lutheran church. But when I finally dared to say yes, hallelujah! There are no words to describe it! Praise the Lord! I went down on my knees during a worship concert in a church and said to God; yes, Yes, YES! I want this! I want to give myself to you! Standing there on my knees trying to sing along a few words and thinking, “I'm being saved right now!” Each time I tried to open my mouth or think that thought, tears flooded from my eyes as someone was hugging me from the inside.

This was in the evening, and already the next day God had changed me in several ways. From being a quite cold person without much of an emotional life, my feelings started working. Suddenly I could feel real happiness, sadness, love, etc. And I could feel for other people too. Wow! A lot of things started happening around me but mostly inside me. It was like my life got a rocket boost.

Now, some time has passed since this happened, and living for Jesus does not always feel like having a rocket boost. But quite often it really does, and I can just stand there in amazement and watch. I would never ever want to go back to my old life. It was the most important decision I have ever made, but I didn’t understand that until I made it. Jesus is always with me, or rather, the Holy Spirit, and that is very comforting. Sometimes when I get philosophical it feels funny that I can say; Yes, I actually know the meaning of my life. Praise Jesus, I owe it all to him.

...Jesus told Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish." So they pulled their boats up on shore. Then they left everything and followed him...

Mats Byggmästar
February 1, 2003

PS. I found this link on Chuck Norris official webside. Watch it, no words needed: video