The following comes from my book, MORE Amazing Stories & Daily
Devotionals.
Adolf Hitler was one of the evilest men who ever
lived. He murdered 6 million Jews, plus millions of other people during World
War II. But suppose Hitler saw the light, was truly repentant of his sins, and
asked Jesus to save him. Would God forgive him? And what about the Japanese
pilot who led the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?
Mitsuo Fuchida admired Hitler, and even sported the same little mustache. He was the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, which started WWII. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, and Fuchida became a hero in Japan.
Later, Jacob
DeShazer, an American prisoner of war during WWII, was being tortured for 40
months in a Japanese prison camp. During that time, DeShazer underwent a
spiritual awakening and became a Christian. He forgave his enemies and
began treating the prison guards with love. After the war, he became a
Christian missionary to Japan.
When Fuchida
heard about the radical change in DeShazer’s behavior, he was confounded.
He couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to kill his enemies. After learning
about Jesus, the Japanese pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor repented of
his terrible act of evil and converted to Christianity. He learned to
love the United States, renounced his warrior past and traveled
throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe preaching the Word of God,
salvation and forgiveness.
In 1950, Fuchida
and DeShazer became friends after meeting each other. The two former
enemies embraced each other as brothers and spent the rest of their lives
preaching God’s Word together and the need to forgive others. (The entire story about Fuchida and DeShazer is in T. Martin
Bennett’s book, The Wounded Tiger,
Dynamis Books, 2023).
God forgave
Fuchida because he repented and put his faith in Jesus to save
him. And if you will repent and believe in Him (Mark 1:15), He will forgive you
for whatever evil you have done.
READ SERMON: JONAH 4—The Pity Party
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