D. Rutherford
The most important thing in my life is being a Christian. I am thankful to God, that through His Son Jesus Christ I am saved and forgiven. How is one to live the Christian life? I believe it is through understanding and applying the full message of the gospel of Jesus Christ within our public and private lives, out of love for Him.
It gives me great pleasure to have written a book to honor Jesus Christ who is the eternal High Priest/Mediator over the kingdom of God, and to help all Christians understand the awesome love and mercy of God extended to all men through the gift of salvation. Through Jesus Christ, I know what it is to be loved and accepted fully and completely. I have never lacked for love and wholeness since the day He saved me. Through Him I began my own journey to spread His message and reflect His image in loving and accepting others.
Although I am retired, I believe there no need to retire from reading the word of God, which greatly helps me to keep on growing in my life. I find great joy in knowing God through His word correctly understood, and greatly hope to help other Christians to have this joy as well.
I was born to poor share croppers. My parents were not educated, but my father was the smartest man I ever knew, he could fix anything, and my mom could make any meal a feast with very little money. My parents were dedicated to raising me well. I learned what love was from my parents, and was very close to them. I never had any idea that we were "poor", dad worked hard and we never missed a meal. I recall my mom telling me to eat my vegetables, and be grateful because the poor children in China would be glad to have as much as I had to eat. Mom and dad gladly shared the food we had with any of our neighbors in need.
Both of my parents were Christians. I grew up thinking that God lived in my parent's bedroom. This was because my father upon awakening in the morning, never stood up first, but would slip down to the floor to his knees to say prayers always ending with "thank you God for another day", only then would he stand up. Later on I would go into their bedroom to search for God in there. I never saw Him there, but felt He was there-some place high. I learned humility from my parents, they never tried to make much of themselves. They did however spend a lot of time encouraging me to be kind to others, to not be lazy, to work hard, do my best and get an education. My parents guarded me carefully, and made sure that I was always surrounded with people who shared their values as Christians.
For this reason when I grew up and left home and first heard people using foul language, I thought it was a foreign language, because I never heard foul language before. I know different today. I became a Christian well after I left home and my father had passed away. I am thankful that my mother lived to see me become a Christian. Although my parents have been gone for many years I still Miss them today, and am thankful for the wonderful example that they gave me through their lives of consistent love, discipline, and respect. Most of all I am thankful because they loved me in the person of Jesus Christ.
