It has been over 50 years ago now, but I can still see my older brother’s happy face when I walked into the kitchen that morning. Yes, his face actually shone, and I knew something very special had happened. What could it have been?
Jim had lived a reckless life and had gotten into a great deal of trouble, usually with his teenage friends. He often stayed out very late with these friends. A concerned neighbor had seen Jim several times and warned him to “get on home,” knowing he should not be roaming the streets at such hours.
Jim was a worry to our dad who was having to raise us alone since our mother had died several years earlier. Dad had gotten calls from the police station to inform him that they were holding Jim and a friend. The two teenagers had been picked up for stealing something from a local store. Other times these boys had vandalized property and were even required to report to a judge for several weeks as a part of their punishment.
Jim was certainly on a path that could only take him deeper and deeper into trouble. Our dad was deeply concerned. Both Dad and Mother were born-again Christians. I had also accepted Christ as my Saviour. Dad and I had been praying that Jim would see his sinful condition before God and come to the Lord Jesus for His forgiveness. We both knew what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15) - “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Paul called himself the chief of sinners because of the many evil things he had done to those who followed the Lord Jesus. If the Lord Jesus could change Paul and turn him around, could he also change a sinner such as Jim? Both Dad and I knew that He could, and He did.
Jim agreed to attend a Bible conference with me, and that’s when it happened. All of Jim’s life he had heard of God’s plan of salvation for sinners through the sacrifice of His only Son. Many times he had repeated the Bible verse John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” However, it was during this Bible conference that once again he heard the invitation to accept Christ as his Lord and Saviour. And this time he did! An immediate change took place in his heart, and what a change it was! His happiness shone on his face.
But what about his teenage friends he enjoyed so much, the ones who were always ready to join him in doing wrong? He would be tested very soon!
The first one he met when he went back to school began to tell him a story which Jim knew was not something a Christian should listen to. Jim stopped his friend immediately and told him that he was now a Christian and didn’t want to hear the story.
How important it was for Jim to take a stand with his old friends. In doing so they knew that he was a different person, and they no longer asked him to join them in doing wrong.
How happy Dad and I were to know and see that he had accepted the Lord Jesus as his own Saviour. And we also knew that it brought much joy to the heart of God. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:77I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7).
ML-07/11/1993