John Newton was lost. His mother died when he was only seven years old. Then at the age of eleven his father sent him to sea as a cabin boy. Later, as a deckhand, John was exposed to a life of drinking, debauchery, and profanity. He became known as the vilest of sailors. He wrote songs mocking the ship’s officers and showed contempt for any authority. As a teenager, John was briefly enslaved on an African plantation and nearly died.

After John regained his freedom, he served time in the British Navy and became captain of his own slave ship. As a slave-trader, he became known as a hard, foul-mouthed, mean-spirited man, hated by his men and superiors alike. He had no concern for any one but himself and sought nothing but his own pleasure.

One night John Newton came to the end of himself. He was disciplined for his behavior by being publicly humiliated, beaten, and stripped of his rank. That night a terrible storm ripped apart the ship, filling his cabin with water. He knew he probably would not survive. He was afraid to die because he was not ready to face eternity.

Bible verses and hymns that he had heard as a child flooded his mind. He tried to cry out to God for mercy but thought he didn’t deserve it. How could he turn to God after all he had done? He spent the long night in deep soul-searching.

When daylight came, the ship had somehow survived and made it back to harbor. John became convinced that “there is a God that hears and answers prayers”. He experienced John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In the storm, John’s eyes were opened. He realized that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. He came to understand God’s grace. Repenting of his sins, he surrendered his life to Christ and became a new man.

Years later John Newton wrote the following song:

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!”

The former slave trader became a pastor and spent the rest of his life proclaiming that Jesus Christ had come “to seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

John Newton had a great influence on the abolitionist movement in Great Britain and helped put an end to the slave trade that he once participated in. His epitaph reads:

“John Newton, clerk,
Once an infidel and libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was by the rich mercy of our Lord
And Savior, Jesus Christ,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the faith he
Had long labored to destroy.”

Have you come to the place where you must admit that you are lost? “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Christ came to find us and redeem us. Like John Newton you can say, “I once was lost but now I’m found.”

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). You can receive that gift by praying a prayer like this from your heart:

“Dear God, I have been lost in sin and blind to your truth. I believe you sent your Son to die on the cross for my sins. Forgive me of my sins and come into my life and change me. In Jesus name, amen!”