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Accomplishing Success on My Own

My Son Taught me the Value of Life
In 1977 I thought I was successful. After all, I owned 50% of a successful business. I had a PhD. I was married with three children. And I thought I had done it all through my own capability and wisdom. It seemed to me that I could accomplish anything if I just tried hard enough. My knowledge and strength of will, my college degrees and business success were important to me, and I put them ahead of everything else.

My 20-year-old Son had Different Priorities
Alan tried to tell me what Jesus Christ meant to him, but I was convinced I didn’t need Jesus. I told him that I could do everything myself. I was so firm about rejecting the Christian faith that Alan told his pastor,

"My dad will never become a Christian!"

As a chemical engineer, I had tried to prove or disprove the existence of God as one proves chemical reactions in a lab. The tests came up empty, so I ignored God.

Tragedy Strikes
Then Alan became seriously ill and was admitted to hospital. His heart stopped beating. I stood outside the emergency room struggling with the pain and anguish I was feeling. And the helplessness. I realized that I couldn’t do everything myself. With my son hovering on the brink of life and death, there was nothing I could do. I didn’t even know how to pray. Alan survived the cardiac arrest, but was in the hospital for a long time suffering from a serious head infection. He told me,

"God is in charge. If God’s purpose in my suffering is to bring you to Christ, then everything I’m going through is worth it." 

I was astonished! 

At his bedside every day, I read Alan's Bible to him. For the first time, I began to learn what the Bible was really all about. And I began to learn about Jesus. Alan’s strong belief in Jesus, combined with what I read in the Bible, made me realize that Jesus was real. Jesus had to be who He claimed to be. Although I tried to believe that He was nothing more than a great teacher or prophet, this argument didn’t stand up to the test. He claimed to be the Son of God. I decided that Jesus must have been telling the truth, and I accepted His claims to be God’s own Son.

Asked Christ into my Life
A month later, I asked Christ to take charge of my life and to be my Lord and Savior. I knew God wanted me to have a more meaningful life. Alan was thrilled when I told him about my decision! He had prayed for a long time that his father would know eternal life. Three weeks after my decision, Alan went into a coma. For three days I hardly left his bedside, until he finally slipped away from his life here on earth to be with his Lord and Savior. I had looked forward to sharing my new Christian life with my son. But I knew that Alan had been saved from his sins and would spend eternity in Heaven! I knew I would see him again someday. Though we were stricken with grief, God gave my wife and myself peace and hope which surpasses all human understanding. The Bible promises this in Philippians 4:7.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that if anyone is in Christ, he is a "new creation." The old self has gone and a new has come. This was certainly true in my life. I now put God in first place, then my wife and family and then my business.

My principles for decision-making have changed completely. I ask God for help in making daily business decisions and no longer rely just on my own knowledge. I have found that God’s infinite wisdom is vastly superior to my own. Best of all, there is joy in my life no matter what happens to me. I know that I have eternal life to look forward to.
~~~~~~~~~~

What about you? Are you feeling like there is no fulfilment in your life? Do you, like Ed, desire to find somebody you can depend on? You can! Simply express your desire to God through prayer. God knows your heart so it doesn't matter which words you use, but here's a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to You and ask You to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, pray it right now and Christ will come into your life just as He promised. If you invited Jesus Christ into your life thank God often that Christ is in your life, that He will never leave you (Hebrews 13:5), and that you have eternal life.

Ed Becker is president and owner (with wife Norma) of Econotech Services Ltd.  He obtained his PhD in Forest Products chemistry with a minor in Chemical Engineering from Oregon State University in 1957. Ed had management positions in pulping and bleaching research at Rayonier R & D in Shelton, Washington, Union Camp R & D in New Jersey and Columbia Cellulose R & D in Vancouver prior to forming Econotech Services Ltd. In 1972.

Ed actively managed pulping and bleaching projects and did consulting until about 1998 and now he works part time in general management. Ed and Norma are actively involved with several Christian organizations and have traveled to over 30 countries to share their testimony.