"If I could resist the devil and his temptations and take a decided stand as a Christian where I work and among my friends, I think it would be better with me. I could be a true Christian then as well as others, and I believe I would soon be sure that I was saved."
So the young man said, and no doubt he sincerely meant it. He had been urged again and again to "take his stand" as a believer and his only idea of conversion to God seemed to be "taking a stand for Christ," "showing his colors," and so on.
Sitting down beside him I asked, "But have you been converted? Do you have spiritual life in your soul? It is important that you should first be clear on that."
To this there was no response. The question seemed beyond the circle of his thoughts, so I went on to say, "You know, the first thing you need is life. There can be no 'taking a stand' and no `resisting' of temptation until then. You must go down the stream, carried like a dead fish with the current, unless you have life. You know a living fish can go against the stream, but a dead one cannot; neither can you resist temptation until you have spiritual life."
"Then that's where I'm wrong!" he exclaimed. "I never thought of that before. I need life first. I can do nothing till I get life. And that's where I've missed the mark."
Others have missed the mark there, too. The sinner needs life before he can stand or walk or work. He cannot live the Christian life if he does not have it; the life must be in him first.
Do you have life? "He that hath the Son hath life." "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. And "whosoever will" may have it.