9/2/16
Jeremy
36
It’s been a few days now, and I
haven’t heard from Jeremy, 36, whom I ran into on the street for a second
Gospel outreach conversation. The first
time we met was at a park several years ago.
He remembered our conversation well, and I had encouraged him to take
active steps in the Christian faith he said he had. “I still have the Bible and other stuff you
gave me, they are on the shelf right under my TV” he said. Indeed they are, and there they sit, unread,
gathering dust. He never called the
number I gave him either, as I had offered to meet with him and help him along
in his faith. So now we had the same
sort of conversation in which he sees himself as a follower of Jesus, but he
doesn’t attend church or read the Bible, and is stuck in a holding pattern with
some sinful habits and lifestyle choices.
The one thing that leads Jeremy to
believe he is following Jesus is that he says he prays every day, with both
prayers of gratitude and requests for safety and blessing. “But how does God speak into your life?” I
asked him. “You say you talk to God, but
do you listen?” Jeremy had been blessed
with a faithful Christian mother, whom he said had talked to him about the same
thing I was just two days earlier. No doubt her influence has helped him have a
general idea of to Whom he is praying to, but he can only coast on from her
influence for so long. He needs to take
ownership of his faith, to read the Bible for himself, to seek out biblical preaching
and teaching and church fellowship. He
needs a constant source of biblical truth and mid-course correction as he goes. Otherwise he is gradually replacing the God
he was raised to believe in with a god of his own making, a god who allows him
to neglect his need for truth and correction and discipline, a god that wants
his Bible to gather dust in order to keep him stuck in sin.
“If you keep doing the same
thing, you’ll end up with the same results” I told Jeremy. He enthusiastically agreed (again) so I invited
him to meet with me again and this time I got his number rather than wait for
him to call me. He can only receive text
messages, so I am waiting for his reply so we can meet and I can help speak
some biblical truth into his life. Will you pray for him to follow through? I will report back here with a comment when
he does…
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