I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY
Psalms 71:18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.
This is one of the reasons I wrote this Devotional, my Commentary, Bible Study, and other books. I had begun working on the commentary when I was in seminary in 1984. But it wasn’t until I had my heart by-pass surgery and a couple stents that I thought I should get some things written down and compiled for my grandchildren and future generations. None of us know for the most part when we will die. We are not guaranteed another breath, let alone another day.
I read a article once that talked about the diminishing age of salvation. By this it means that the older we get the less likely we are to become a Christian. It said that 19 out of 20 people become a Christian before they are 25 years old.
After that at the age of:
25 one in 10,000
35 one in 50,000
45 one in 200,000
55 one in 300,000
65 one in 500,000
75 one in 700,000
These statistics are kind of scary when we think about it. I was 25 years old when I became a wholehearted Christian. When I was eight years old I was watching Oral Roberts on TV, and he said if anyone wants to become a Christian and go to heaven that they are to put their hand on the TV screen and to say what he said. Well, even though I was eight years old, I knew I wanted to go to heaven so I did it. The problem was my parents never went to church, so I just watched TV. I did not grow in my understanding of the Lord or even the Bible, and sad to say certainly not my relationship with Jesus. I didn’t even know I could have a relationship with Jesus. I was just like many people. I would pray if I was in trouble, and at night before I went to sleep. It wasn’t until I was twenty-five and had just married Beckie that I even started going to church regularly. She grew up in the United Methodist Church, but she wasn’t much closer to Jesus than I was. She did know a lot more about what the Bible said, because I didn’t even know the difference between the Old and New Testaments. I didn’t even understand the numbering system, let alone how to look something up.
One night in 1974 at the Hillsboro United Methodist Church it all changed for me. I became born again. We had a revival, and a man by the name of Reverend Bill McCloud from Canada came to our church. At one of his services God gave me a vision of myself. Even though I was wide awake, I saw myself standing before God. I had a white robe on, but it was covered in filth. It was so real I felt sick to my stomach even after the vision was over. I was so upset and even angry that I appeared this way, so I cried out to God. I asked him why and he said it was my righteousness. It wasn’t until quite some time after I became a Christian that I discovered that our self-righteousness is but filthy rags. When I told God I didn’t understand, he told me that only trusting in Jesus could I find forgiveness. With that the vision was over and I was looking at Reverend McCloud. He asked if anyone wanted to come forward and give their heart and life to God by trusting in Jesus. Needless to say I went right up. From that moment on I have never the same. The Holy Spirit came into my heart, and I became wholehearted lover of Jesus Christ. Over the years I have grown to understand about him, his desires for me and my love and appreciation for his has only grown. The only regret I have is I didn’t become born again very early in my life. Jesus has only been a blessing to me and my family. I can add them because Beckie became a born again Christian and both our children Joshua and Mary became Christians when they were three years old.
While our journey with Jesus has been wonderful, I know that future generations await us. Joshua’s three children have become Christians and Mary’s daughter is only 1 ½, so I pray for her salvation every day. If the Lord doesn’t come soon we may have many more generations in years to come that I will never have a chance to encourage to go on and become a Christian too. So I began writing and as you can tell I still am telling the most wonderful story ever told. Are you passing the story of Jesus to those you love, or maybe writing it down? Some day you will no longer have the chance!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for helping us to become a Christian and a lover of Jesus. Please help us to share our love for Jesus to future generations. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
