My Testimony

Before I knew Jesus

I was on top of the world at the age of 23. I had just graduated from the Naval Academy, purchased my graduation car and was in Pensacola, Florida going through Navy flight training. My life was centered on me; my flying, my car, my friends, my freedom and my regular attendance at notorious parties.

My significance came through my status and my security was in my abilities. I was convinced that I could do anything and needed no one to help me do it. I was all that I needed. My insidious problem was what I experienced when I was all alone; by myself. When I was alone, I was very unhappy with who I know I was. There was no one who knew the real me because I hid it from them. I was profoundly afraid that if people knew who I really was inside, they would not like it and reject me. I would do just about anything to protect myself from that pain of rejection.

How I became aware of God's grace

In July of 1969, I went with a friend to a church. During the service, the speaker passed out 3X5 cards. He wanted us to write on them whether we thought we were going to heaven or not. I paused for a minute, reviewed my life briefly, and then confidently wrote, "No". When the speaker called for all those who put "No" or "Maybe" on their cards to come forward, I was amused that only 6 of about 300 people went forward. If going to heaven was really something you could know for sure, then I reasoned everyone should have gone forward. I rationalized that this was either a church full of liars and cowards or, possibly, they knew something I did not know. It bothered me that I had honestly written and honestly believed that my answer was “No”.

Later that night, after the meeting was over, I talked to the speaker privately. He not only told me what I did not know about going to heaven but he helped me understand how I could confidently write "Yes" on my card. He said there were three things that I needed to know. I asked if he could show me those three things and prove them true. He said, “Yes” and later that night, about 9:45 in the evening of July 18, 1969, I scratched out the “No” on my card and wrote “Yes” in its place. I understood that if I died that night, Jesus would let me into His heaven not because of what I had done but because of what He had done.

After Christ became real to me

After that, all the things that I had heard about Jesus in the past seemed to be very clear and simple to me. For the first time, this arrogant, thick-skinned Navy pilot began to see some noticeable changes in his life for the better. The greatest change was that I began to read the Bible and actually enjoy and understand it. Through the eyes of Jesus, I saw a new, authentic, accepted, loved Ric, unafraid of being known by other people and unafraid of facing death. I was no longer obsessed with hiding my real self. Jesus knew me inside and out and loved me. That began the process of me humbling accepting who I was in Christ. 

Subsequent to that day when Jesus and I committed ourselves to each other, I saw several of my friends get interested in what had happened to me. When I told one of my closest friends what had happened, he asked, "How can I write ‘Yes’ on my card too?" We talked about it and that's when I shared with him that “God saved me by His special favor the moment I believed. It is a gift of God. It is not a reward for the good things I have done so that I can not say that I earned it or deserved it.” Eph 2:8, 9

If you were asked whether you are sure you are going to heaven or not, what would you write on your 3X5 card?

Ric French