Igor first met Jesus back in 1989. But back then he didn't understand
that the Lord comes to our hearts in order to wash our sins once and for all
with His blood and to give us a bright and righteous life.
Having uttered the Sinner’s Prayer and experienced some unusual
sensations, Igor soon forgot about this event and continued his life of an
“ordinary sinner,” as he calls it. He was reading the Bible with much interest,
though, and it remained his only connection with the Most High. But back then
he, a young man, didn't realize it…
Igor says, “When Sasha Klauning, my friend and colleague, an actor and
musician, came to me and said, ‘I have received Jesus in my heart. Now you see a
totally different person,’ I had a feeling that I have missed something very
important in my life. But this feeling soon vanished and I spent another year in
darkness.”
By the time of his true repentance life seemed dull and meaningless to Igor.
Family problems, no place for growth in his job — all this drove him into
depression. Besides that, his strenuous work schedule (he was working on TV)
demanded some kind of a relief which Igor quickly found in a beer. He reasoned
that if he would drink vodka with his buddies he could become an alcoholic real
fast, but with beer this process would go much slower. The latter option seemed
more inviting. Why, what’s wrong in having a glass of beer after a hard day’s
work? It readily relieves all the stress from the workload and provides a good
environment for fellowship with friends. He was treating his daily beer almost
like a medicine and could hardly imagine his life without it.
Igor remembers, “My wife was the first to sound the alarm as she noticed that
I could consume up to three liters of beer every night. Thank God, eventually I
became more aware of this as well. I noticed that I now considered a day without
drinks a heroic feat. The side effects of my alcohol addiction (now I know that
it was exactly that — addiction) soon followed as I became aggressive toward my
wife. If not for God, sooner or later I would begin hitting her.
“I accepted Sasha’s invitation to visit a conference in the church without
any opposition. When I entered the sanctuary I didn't feel any negative emotions
because of the number of people or from the quality of the music worship. And
the sermon preached by Myles Munroe on that day simply turned me upside down on
the inside. He was speaking in simple and easy-to-understand terms about the
things that concern all people without exception. I was amazed by what I heard
and shared my impressions with Sasha. My voice was calm and confident but my
shaking hands betrayed my emotional condition. The Holy Spirit touched me on
that day.”
However, this wasn’t the turning point yet. For about one more month Igor
would sip his beer as he watched the TV. Then one day he called Sasha. The
conversation turned to repentance, and something happened in this man’s heart.
The first thing he did after the phone talk was pouring the contents of his
bottle into the sink. He didn't have a sip of alcohol since then.
Igor
shares, “When I received Jesus in my heart my life was filled with a new
meaning. God opens such things that I have never thought about before. The
holiness of man, for example. A person can’t receive it as a gift. He can’t
inherit it. A person can receive holiness only by inviting Jesus Christ to come
into his heart. Then He forgets our sins once and for all as He washes us with
His blood.”
Igor thought life was meaningless. But Igor's encounter with God changed his
attitude towards life.
Igor Volkov