JOSE, a Brazilian, once a burglar but now a Christian, tells the following story of his conversion: “One evening I broke into a house, and hiding myself under a bed, waited for the family to retire for the night. When they were ready to go to bed, to my horror, they all gathered in the room where I was hidden and sat down! The father came over to the bed itself, and for one awful moment I thought he had seen me. But he picked up a book and sat down to read to his wife and children. They were wonderful words he read — the like of which I had never heard. When he had fished, he put the book back on the table, and then the family knelt in prayer. I hoped that they wouldn’t see me under the bed! As I heard them pray, it seemed as if the father was talking to a friend in the room. I had never heard anyone talk to God like that before.
“At last the family went to bed. When I thought everyone was asleep, I crept from my hiding place, stole over to the table and picked up the Book. I didn’t stop to steal anything else, but went out into the night with the Book in my hand. It was a Bible.
“As I read the Bible at home, I became more and more disturbed, yet I felt that in it lay the secret of true happiness. The day finally came when I confessed my sins to God and asked Him to receive me through the Lord Jesus Christ.
“My life was completely changed. I wanted to live honestly! I knew that I should return the Bible to its owner, so I did so. The father of the family seemed even more pleased to hear about the story of my salvation than to receive His Bible back!
“I began attending a gospel hall in my city, and it proved to be the very place where the owner of the Bible and his family went to remember the Lord! The Christians there were so pleased to hear how God’s Word had changed my life.”
“For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,... and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4: 12.
Jose, like those of old, “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.” 1 Thess. 1:1010And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10). This is what it means to be converted — “to turn to God.” This change is a work wrought only by the Spirit of God in our souls.
Two things go together — a sense of God’s grace and goodness which attracts, and a sense of our sinfulness which convicts. The prodigal son was truly converted. He said, “I will arise and go to my father"; that proved the attraction. Then he said, “Father, I have sinned"; that showed the conviction.
Dear reader, are you converted? Have you turned to God?
ML-03/18/1973