We all wanted Gordon on our team. When he took the bat in his hands, the other team spread out all over the outfield, and everybody was alert for a home run.
If the bat survived the crack of connecting with the ball, we would all watch the ball sail up into the blue sky, and we would all be running and yelling in a wild effort to get Gordon out. Not much hope for us. Another home run. Teams with lots of players were not too big for him.
Then came a day when Gordon attended a gospel meeting. It wasn’t the first time he had heard the gospel. Although Gordon’s parents were deaf, they had often told him with their sign language all about the Saviour of sinners and had prayed that he would be saved from his sins. But this was not for him. He was too big for such things. Too big until one day when he knew for the first time that it was not just his parents, and not just the preacher, but God Himself who was telling him that His Son Jesus had died for his sins. And that day, Gordon accepted Christ as his Saviour.
Ball playing was more fun than ever, because now his whole life had a different purpose. It wasn’t to please himself, but to please the One who died for him and rose again.
But what about Mary Jane? She was the big sister in a motherless family. When she had time, it was such fun to get her on the back of his bicycle and go places together. What would Mary Jane say if he told her he had accepted Christ as his Saviour? Perhaps he had better not tell her. But how could they go on together if each had a different goal? Yes, he must tell her, and he did.
When she heard that he was saved, her face lit up like sunshine. “I was saved long ago when I went to Sunday school and my teacher told me about Jesus,” she explained.
And then, as all Christians ought to do, they encouraged each other. They read the Bible and prayed and learned together. Then — you guessed it — there came a day when they stood up together and were married.
That is not the end of the story. They are both in heaven now where everlasting life never ends. Today does not mark the end of your story either. Where will it end? In heaven? Are you sure? You can be sure, if the Lord Jesus is your Saviour right now. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that [you] may know that [you] have eternal life” (1 John 5:1313And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. (John 5:13)). If the Lord Jesus is not your Saviour, you may be sure of eternity in hell, but don’t leave it that way. The door is still open, and the invitation is for you. Will you come?
ML-09/24/2000