To the Jew First | 11
that I should not read the New Testament. I cannot even begin to
describe the guilt I felt in reading and enjoying the New Testament.
May I step back for a moment? I probably never would have
read the New Testament if it weren’t for the transformation I
was seeing in the lives of my two best Jewish friends after they
believed in Jesus.
They witnessed to me, but I resisted and tried to talk them out of
it. I was trying to get them out of what I felt was probably some
kind of weird cult. Instead they kept encouraging me to read my
Bible—what is commonly called the Old Testament in Christian
circles. As you probably know, Jewish people do not call the Bible
the Old Testament because, in the Jewish mind, there is no New
Testament! That’s the book that Christians read and not the one
that Jewish people follow.
I loved what I was reading in the Old Testament and found myself
wanting a relationship with God that was personal, intimate, and
even supernatural, just like Abraham, Moses, and King David. I had
never noticed that what made these forefathers of mine so great
was their relationship with God.
Weeks and months passed and I became more and more
interested in knowing more about the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. I just did not want to believe in Jesus like my friends
because I would have to tell my family, and I knew that I would be
rejected. One day, I just could not take it anymore and I prayed
my first spontaneous prayer (Jewish people usually pray in
Hebrew and follow written prayers). I asked God, “If you are real,
please show me and show me how to get you.”
That night, believe it or not, a miracle occurred! I found a copy of
Good News for Modern Man, a modern English version of the New
Testament, in a phone booth in the middle of the campground of
the California redwood forest where I was working at the time! I
ChosCehno Pseno pPle oMpilnei sMtriineis t.r icehso .s cehnopseeonpple.ocpolme. c o| m11
/CHOSENPEOPLE.COM