12/14/13 Jesús about 20
“Really? You would just give this to me?” A young man named Jesús, 20, was so grateful
when I offered him a Bible near the end of a gospel conversation at the grocery
store. He had initially told me he believes that by being a good person, God
will allow him to go to heaven when he dies.
But as I took him step by step through the Gospel, helping him to see
how he has already sinned and deserves punishment rather than heaven, but that
God has given Jesus to take the punishment he deserves, Jesús began to relate
what I was telling him to what his best friend – a born-again Christian – has been
telling him all along. He needs to put
his faith in Jesus as his hope for salvation.
“You need to trust in the real Jesus, not in Jesús – yourself- and your
ability to do good things or be a good person and earn or deserve
salvation. Imagine that a good friend
gives you a very valuable gift, and all you do is try to offer a small amount
of cash for it. Not only is it an
offence to try to offer money for what is to be a gift, but the amount of money
you do try to offer is also an insult in comparison to the value of the
gift. In the same way, we disrespect God
when we try to “pay” for the gift of forgiveness and salvation found in Jesus
with our good works or by trying to prove we are worthy. We just need to receive Him as a gift and
respond with the gratitude that God truly deserves.” I went on to tell Jesús how God offers us a
relationship with Himself – not a cold religion full of rules and rituals – and
we have the chance to live a life of gratitude for what He has given us. Jesús
had told me he didn’t have a Bible, so I gave him one. “I promised my friend I would read the Bible” -
he said very excitedly - “Now I can keep my promise”. I hope and pray he does read it, and that he
receives Jesus with the same kind of gratitude that he received that Bible.
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