When I was a high school student, I was just a nominal Christian, lukewarm about the faith. While there at school I was encountered, or almost assaulted by a well- meaning band of Evangelicals whose club was called “Hi-BA”, meaning “High School Born-Againers”. Anywhere I went in the school cafeteria, carrying my lunch tray, I was beset by that band of witnesses. Even if I hid myself in the corner, they were certain to show up. They would seat themselves all around me, take their Bibles, and try to push me into making a commitment to Christ. It was nerve- wracking.
“But how do you know that the Bible is true?” “Because it says so!” they would answer. ” What kind of logic is that? It’s a very circuitous argument,” I’d insist. “You can’t prove The Bible with the Bible.” But the Hi-BAers didn’t understand. In their minds, “The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.”
Up to this point in my life, the Bible’s stories were only stories. Someone had simply made them up. I knew some of the narratives but could never take them seriously.
Somewhere I read a story about a woman whose girlfriends had all read and relished a new book. They constantly badgered her to get a copy and read it for herself. She got it and tried many times to read it. She even kept it on her night table. Each evening when she went to bed, she would pick the book up, try to read it, and then fall asleep. She could never get into it.
Then, one evening, she attended a cocktail party and, while there, was introduced to a fascinating gentleman who spent the rest of the evening in her company. His charm magnetized her. She was astounded to discover that he had written the best seller which had remained for her a closed book. Later that night she returned home, picked up the book, and read it in one sitting.
The next day she telephoned all her friends to talk about the book. “But we all thought you couldn’t get into it”, they said. “That’s true”, she said, “but last night I met the author.”
That became my own story. One night I prayed, and He was there. I felt loved, understood, and accepted. Afterwards, I believed the Bible because I had met the Author.
