Thank you for the question on atheism to theism, “Which Bible verse converted you from atheism to theism?”
Every person’s story is different on how the Spirit of God brought a person to a place of saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Here’s my testimony:
I wasn’t born into a Christian family. My parents weren’t religious as they never prayed over meals nor read the Bible. I never saw a Bible in our home. However, my parents sent us to Catholic School.
Around 6 years old, I remember going into the Chapel and wondering why was this man on the cross. As I grew older, I learned that this man’s name is Jesus and that he was born on Christmas Day and rose again to life on Easter Sunday, but I didn’t know why he was on the cross.
My parents enrolled me into public school in third grade. We went to Church nearly every Sunday but I Church didn’t mean anything to me. The service was in Chinese and I am sure that he must have said something in English, but I have minimal recollection of it.
Throughout my Elementary and Middle School Years, I still wondered why was this man on the cross. In high school, I joined a youth group. They studied the Bible but I didn’t quite understand what they were talking about. A friend once asked me, “Are you interested in spiritual things?” I said, “No,” because I didn’t know what spiritual things meant. I am sure the Bible study group share about Jesus, but I didn’t understand it. I enjoyed the fellowship time of playing games and being with my friends.
One day as I walking through the school yard close to my home, I saw a book lying there on a bench. I was drawn to it. I brought it home and started to read from Genesis 1. My mother thought that I was crazy in reading that book for hours. I read things that I had no idea of what they were talking about but some of the stories like Moses and the 10 Plagues, David and Goliath or Daniel in the Lion’s Den were familiar to me. For the most part they were just words on a page. I didn’t think about God nor do I recollect praying to God. I was just drawn to that Book.
Reading in the Gospel of John, it dawned on me that there was this God who loved me and sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for me. In the quietness at home, I asked God to forgive me of my sins and accept me as His child. I didn’t have or read from a religious tract. No one opened the Bible to me. Looking back, I believe it was the Holy Spirit who opened my eyes and mind to understand who Jesus was. I felt great joy in my heart that I never had as a child or teenager.
There’s lot more to my story and I hope to write some of in on my website. It’s a story of God’s intervening grace not only in my life but in the life of every believer. One can never be same once one has “experienced” God in one’s own life.
-Kingston