Reading the Bible his mother gave him was a greater pleasure than anything the world had to offer Bill. More and more, he became less interested In the ordinary pursuits of the world. Naturally, his parents didn’t understand their son’s spiritual experience. Neither did Bill’s brother or sisters under­stand. Concerned for him, they tried to encourage him to take part in the old activities. But, through reading the Gospel of John, Bill had discovered the assurance of salvation. Again, it was words which Jesus spoke that brought light to Bill’s heart and certainty to his mind. 

        My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Fa­ther’s hand (John 10:27-29). 

        These were the words God’s Holy Spirit used to impress upon Bill the reality of the relationship God had established with him. The Bible told him that God created all things. God was immeasurably greater than the universe He created. God cared for His creation. He watched over every sparrow. And in the sweep of His infinite grace, God had sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to bring the message of hope and life and to die for sinners.

        Bill’s mind was filled with awe as he began to realize that the same Savior Who died for sinners not only rose from the dead but sent the Holy Spirit to live in the lives of all believers. He couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the thought. It was simply too great. The everlasting God had reached into the heart of a sinful man from Whitefish Lake Reserve and had forgiven all his sins. 

        Bill also knew that there was nothing he could do to deserve this great gift of eternal life God had given him through Jesus Christ. But surely there was something he could do to show his gratitude for the Savior’s love. He could do what God’s Word directs all believers to do, that is, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1,2). 

        Bill wanted to know and do God’s will. Here was a specific step he could take. In his own modest way, in the privacy of his own heart, he simply turned his life over to God as best he knew how.

  Had he known the little poem, Bill would have agreed that these words described his feelings in those early days of his new Christian life. No grand thoughts of world conquest for Christ entered his mind then. His surrender to God’s will showed itself in simpler ways. For example, he stopped playing the violin at the dances where other temptations always lurked. 

        “I played at the dances,” Bill recounted. “One day I finally decided that I was finished with it. It didn’t seem right. It didn’t help me spiritually. That night, some of my friends called on me to go to the dance. I didn’t quite know how to tell them I wasn’t going. When I saw them on the road I ran upstairs and jumped into bed, fully clothed and wearing lumber Jack boots.”

        The fellows came in and asked for Bill. When Irene told them he was upstairs, one came up to get him. “I’m in bed already,” Bill said. “I’m not going out tonight.” A few days later, they came again. Having thought out the best way to tell them, Bill met the guys and told them he was finished with dancing. They wanted to know why. I’m a Christian now. I’m finished with the dances,” was Bill’s reply. The others didn’t know what to say. But they left him to go his own way while they went theirs. 

        For Bill, his chosen path wasn’t a path he walked alone. He knew from the Bible that Jesus had made incredible promises. One was, Lo, I am with you always (Matthew 28:20). Another was, He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor for­sake you’ (Hebrews 13:5). Yet another statement from Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10: l0b). Maybe to outsiders it looked as if Bill was losing something by letting these so-called pleasures go. But the new Christian was learning fast that the joy of God’s presence in his daily life was far better than the pleasures the world had offered him. 

        Bill did have a few allies in the faith. His grandparents on his father’s side, David and Jean Jackson encouraged him from the start in his Christian life. Also, his Uncle Alex and Aunt Stella Cardinal, who were among the earliest believers in the church at Kikino, always stood behind Bill in his stand for the Lord. Their prayers helped him through many years of his ministry.