A gambler's paradise

I was a gambling lord. I controlled a Southeast Asian syndicate with more than ten thugs to collect the money gamblers lost from their game of chance. My heart was cold and cruel. I used unpleasant methods to make people pay the gambling debts they owed me. I carried two pistols and used them to threaten and intimidate. People's feelings mattered little to me. I was a wealthy man. I drank, smoked up to four packs a day, ate in expensive restaurants, and had lots of women companions-even though I was married-because I had so much money to indulge.

Missing something

Though I felt rich and powerful, it frustrated me that all my money and pleasure-seeking gave me no satisfaction. I wondered why I always felt empty. Something was missing or I was missing out on something-a something that would give me a fulfilling satisfaction. Not knowing what that 'something' was, I turned more and more to the soothing of alcohol. Soon I was drinking from early morning until after midnight.

Sometimes I would come home drunk and beat up my wife, then pass out. Only later did I learn that's when my wife would kneel next to me and pray. She pled with God for me to know Jesus and to restore our marriage and for strength to remain until her prayers were answered.

One day I sat at the table counting the gathered money from that day's gambling, when my four-year-old daughter came up to me and handed me a Bible. (I was looking after her that day because my wife was away in another city, so I had forced myself to remain sober). I set the Bible off to the side and finished counting my money. Then I put my daughter to bed.

Changed in an instant

I came back to the table, saw the Bible and opened it out of curiosity. My eyes landed on John 3:3, where Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

In an instant, that verse showed me everything I wanted to know about the purpose of life. It was that sudden, that clear.

That dramatic moment made me want to read more. For hours I read, thought, read and thought. God's Word took a powerful hold on me. Its truth penetrated my confused dark mind to give me understanding. The more I read the more I became convinced that God really did love me. That truth caused me to cry.

I read more and more, crying, seeking, reading, searching, and believing. The hours of the night came and went. Then, just before sunrise, I knew what I had to do. On my knees I wept before the Lord, confessing my life of sin. I yielded my life wholly to God and received Jesus Christ into my life as Savior and Lord.

A new way of life

I stood up, a forgiven man in Jesus, and threw my cigarettes into the garbage bin. I was not only delivered from the bondage of sin but also of smoking and drinking. Then I picked up the phone and called my right-hand man in the gambling syndicate, and told him to come immediately.

When he arrived, I handed him all the money from gambling that I had counted up the night before, and told him, 'Go look for another boss,' for I just quit the gambling business. Astounded, he wanted to know why. He was the first person I talked to about the saving power of Jesus Christ.

For the rest of that Saturday I spent time with my daughter, read the Bible, and prayed.

The next day my daughter and I went to church. My right-hand man had gone and told some of my former gambling associates of my new life in Christ. They had come to see for themselves. To their amazement, I was clean, sober, happy, and carrying a Bible. They knew that day I would no longer be joining them in the usual drinking binges."

God answered my wife's prayer and restored our marriage. Today we work together serving the Lord by leading Bible studies and establishing new churches.

I thank God that He has taken from me the love of money. Once I was completely dependent on money for all my needs. Now I depend on God, and He is faithful.

--Reggie, Bible League Inernational trained Southeast Asian church planter