As a young boy, I loved to put together model cars, but I often turned them into my very own custom cars, by cutting, adding, and completely changing different things about them. I loved custom cars and hot rods. I always wanted a custom car—a hot rod that was a fast car!
In my senior year of high school in the 1960s, My Dad told me I could get myself a car of my own! When I was only 7 years-old, I used to work on my grandparents 100+ acre farm every summer, so I had about 10 years savings in the bank. My Dad told me to look around and then he would go with me to put his “OK” on it. One day I was driving down a country road in Pinconning, Michigan, when it appeared in a weedy corner of an old home—it was calling my name! A metallic green, customized 1940 Ford. It was show-room clean, chrome reverse rims, custom rolled bucket seats, 3-speed on the floor, and under that big heavy hood, a chromed and souped-up Buick engine. Wow!
An elderly couple came out of the house, and I asked the price of this car with a big “For Sale” sign in the front window. They told me that it belonged to their son, a young man who had died while on a trip to Texas. The couple told me that they just wanted to sell it. They had no use for an old 1940 Ford. They asked me if I would give them $800 for it. I never even tried to start the engine—I just wanted to own it! I was not even able to do a complete walk-around, as it was surrounded by bushes and tall weeds. I told them that I would be back the next day with my Dad, so I asked them not to sell it.
The next day I got my Dad to go with me so that he could inspect the car. I told him it was $800, but I did not tell him the rest of the story. When we arrived, my Dad took one look at it, popped open the hood, and all I heard was, “No way you will have this fast car!” I was devastated, my heart sank, and my face sank to the ground.
A few days later, I was talking about the car to some guys. When I told them where I had seen it, they told me my dream car was bought by someone from another town. Then, I heard from others that the guy who bought the car for $800, not only got a great price for the custom car, but he found a wooden box in the trunk with more than 2,000 old silver dollars in it! I was even more devastated.
Curious
Back then, I wanted customs cars—fast cars and money in the bank. I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it. I wanted certain things and I was ready to work hard to get them, if that is what it took.
So, how does “curious” fit into this story? Glad you asked? Now that I am a lot older and wiser, I am curious as to what would have happened, IF I had gotten to own that fast 1940 Ford. I know that I would have raced anyone who challenged me. I know if I sat at a traffic light and a guy in a fast car was next to me. We would look at each other with that knowing “look” and a nod of our heads. We would be squealing rubber when the light turned green, speeding from light to light, hoping a police car would not hear or see us. I know there would be nights with our headlights off, while speeding on old US 23 between Pinconning and Standish—the moon keeping us on the pavement.
I do not doubt that I would have been in a wreck sooner or later, perhaps a wreck that would have taken my life. All those things that I bought with money that I earned on the farm would be left behind and my body under six feet of dirt.
I would be “curious” where my spirit would have gone! I doubt that I would be in Heaven, as I did not understand faith in Christ. More than likely, I would be in the torments of Hell, where there is no exit. It just goes on forever with no peace, ever! Yes, I used to go to church on Sunday; yes, I did do quite a few good deeds. But I never knew, read, or studied the Bible. So, I never knew what God required of me to be saved from Hell.
But, now, older wiser, I have read and studied the Bible, and God’s simple requirement to be saved. God requires 100 percent faith in Jesus Christ, that He died to save me, and that Jesus rose from the dead just as God said. It is all in the Bible. Pick up a Bible today, as it is your only opportunity to know the truth!
Read these verses:
John, Chapter 3, verses 16-18
John, Chapter 6, verse 35
John, Chapter 10, verses 11, 14
John, Chapter 11, verses 25-26
II Corinthians, Chapter 5, verse 21
Romans, Chapter 5, verse 8
Romans, Chapter 6, verse 4, 5
Romans, Chapter 8, verse 1
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Con-Tracts © 2019
Testimony: Paul Bero
Artist: Rick Spooner, Michigan
This tract may be printed in its entirety for free distribution.
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The Roman Road
I had a pretty good opinion of myself until a friend invited me to take a walk down the Roman Road. He used a single book in the Bible to open my eyes to my relationship with God, and I haven’t been the same since.
He warned me that the trip might hurt, and he was right because he started by revealing my real status before God.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God… Romans 3:23
Then I learned of sin’s penalty.
For the wages of sin is death… Romans 6:23a
He went on to tell me that God loves me so much he offers an alternative called “Eternal Life” …but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ… Romans 6:23b.
Then he showed me how God provided his son Jesus as an atoning Sacrifice for my sin. Jesus took my penalty! But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
I wondered if God would accept me. He assured me with even more good news. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13
My friend showed me what I should do to receive Eternal Life. That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved… Romans 10:9
We prayed together, and I gladly accepted God’s gift of Eternal Life through Jesus Christ.