I'm "Too Bad" For Jesus? Not a Chance!

I was musing about the many people I have known throughout my life who have come to personally know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior ... their many and varied paths to Him, and the obstacles and misconceptions that kept them away for too long.

It increasingly strikes me that many seem to think that something they have done in their lives, or are currently doing, is just 'too bad' for them to approach Christ. They can't figure out a way to get from 'here' to 'there' even though they may desire in their hearts to know Him. They make the mistake of believing there is something they need to do, or to fix, before they can know Jesus. This is SO erroneous.

That's the whole point of the good news of the gospel. We can never, ever be good enough. That is the very reason He died on the cross ... He paid a debt He didn't owe - to pay a price we couldn't pay. And He offers it to us as a free gift. All you need to do is truly repent of your sinful state and ask Him to become the Lord of your life. If this is the desire of your heart, He does the rest. He understands that we are unable to be what we deeply want to be.

About a year ago I ran into an aging man at the duck club we belong to. He had discovered he had cancer. David was off talking to somebody about birds and stuff (!) so I talked to the man (Ray) about his health. In the course of the conversation there was an opportunity to respond to a joking statement of his about dying, and I responded with something like: "Well, just make sure when you go, you head north instead of south." It was a light exchange, but serious, and we both knew it. He said that he had lived too bad a life to head north (See? There it is again!). I assured him that was not possible. It was the first time I had ever met him, and soon David was ready to leave, so I told Ray that I would pray for him every day.

I came home and found a tiny little booklet, one of many such that my parents always had available as far back as I could remember. It told people how to become a Christian. It was particularly appropriate for Ray because it was, I thought, his style. It had a lot of questions and answers. I wrote a personal note to him, and David took it out with him the next time he went to the club. He gave it to Ray with my note.

I prayed for Ray every day for the next year or so and occasionally asked David if he ever saw him. One day he said that Ray had finally died. I had some trouble (and a few tears) crossing his name off my prayer list. I just have a feeling that he read that little booklet and that the Lord answered my prayer and spoke to Ray's heart and that he said the simple prayer and believed. Our meeting was no accident.That's often the way it works. I won't know for sure until I get there, but I fully expect to see Ray again some day.

Then I recently ran across an elderly lady who told me that she had never known what Easter was really about until our pastor gave a little devotional at a nursing home that some of us visit several times a year. I was stunned. How could a person live 90 years in America and never know the meaning of Easter?

One of my favorite websites has a long list of links to personal testimonies from all kinds of people with varied hangups (as we all have), and I thought some of you might find it helpful. It's here: http://www.raptureready.com/test/testimonies.htm. If you, or someone you know, thinks you are 'too bad' to approach Jesus Christ, this might shed some light.

I wrote a booklet not long ago, entitled "How Do You Know For Sure If You're a Christian?" It's in book format - see the link to the left of my blog under PAGES.