Today started out with sprinkles that I hoped would stop- but turned into a steady rain! It was worth it, though. Today I was blessed to meet a young man named Kevin. Kevin asked me about what the cross meant, and I told him I was trying to spread the Gospel. As it turns out, Kevin goes to a C&MA church, just like I do, and is going through some of the same trials I have gone through.
I took Kevin through the law presentation and clearly, Kevin understood we are all sinners. I also took him through the good news of the Gospel- Jesus' atoning work for us on the cross. Kevin mentioned he quite didn't understand how the blood of Jesus applies to our sins. I explained to him how in the Old Testament that God required animal sacrifices for the covering of sins, but Jesus was the perfect, final atoning sacrifice for our sins. I was able to explain imputed righteousness to him- how Jesus' perfect, sinless state, is imputed to us when we repent and believe in Jesus.
Kevin told me he had been a Christian for 3 years. He told me he was struggling with deciphering how God speaks to him. I told him I was struggling with the same thing- trying to figure out God's will for my life.
I told him that I had sin in my life and as long as I refused to deal with that sin, that I was impeding God's progress in my life. I also told Kevin that God speaks to us through His Word. I told him that Scripture is God's communication with us and that when I am reading the Word, God reveals new things to me that I may not have previously seen.
I asked Kevin if he was born again, and he said he wasn't sure. I told him what it meant to be born again was to repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ for your salvation. Once you have done that, God will give you a new heart with new desires to serve Him. I told him that it may sound foreign that someone would desire to do something like hold a cross on the side of the street, but I once used to think like that, also.
I also told Kevin about how I continually asked God to take away my sinful desires but nothing was happening, until I took the first step in repentance and turned away from my sin. I told him that God wants us to take the first step in obedience. Once I had taken the first step, then the desires started to subside. Kevin said maybe that's what he had needed to hear. I told Kevin how we needed to be "Dead to Sin, Alive to God" as Romans 6 says.
We also had similar concerns about our fathers and their eternity. I was able to explain some of the other analogies of Way of the Master, and I told Kevin how taking the WOTM really cleared up my understanding of my faith. We also discussed a few other things, like how we should "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).
I gave Kevin a tract with my church's website and encouraged him to read the post on "How to Get to Heaven" which contains more WOTM analogies and also how there was a message posted by my pastor about "Do I Need Jesus?" Please be in prayer for Kevin and his relationship with our Savior.
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