The youth pastor and evangelist... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Woe is me, for I am undone!

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.
Isaiah 6:5; Isaiah 5:16

The youth pastor and evangelist Wilhelm Busch (1897–1966) told of his conversion:

I was a young officer in the First World War. I didn’t need Jesus. I was a good horseman and had the command of a battery at the age of 18. So I really thought that I didn’t need Jesus! But then came the hour when the abyss opened up before me. That was when a friend next to me, to whom I wanted to say something, suddenly fell dead from his horse. A splinter had hit him.

Then I was suddenly overcome by the question: “If you get the next shot – where will you be then?” I suddenly realised that then I would be standing before God. And I thought, “Can I stand before God?” I remember how I started to list my merits: “But I’m brave and I’m fighting for my country. I’m no worse than others ...”. And it was as if God thundered back at me, “What about your sins?” That’s when the abyss opened up, when I suddenly understood: “I can’t stand before God with my sins; if I get shot now, I’ll go to hell.” We all have to go through that hour once.

That’s when I first prayed, “Dear God, don’t let me die before I ...”. But I didn’t know what. So I asked: “How do I do it? How do I get right with God?”

Then we came to a rest area. And in the top of my big suitcase, which always stayed with the baggage, there was a little book – a Bible. My mother had smuggled it into my suitcase on my last holiday. I picked up the booklet and leafed through it. Then my eye fell on the words: “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners”.

(to be concluded tomorrow)

Today’s reading: Obadiah vv. 12-21 · Proverbs 26:1-9