[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Monday, January 21, 2013

[Paul]

Hello and good evening to my fellow western hemisphere inhabitants who are saints of the Most High God, and good day to the rest of you living elsewhere on Planet Earth.  I hope that, by God's matchless grace and His providential care, that your day is going well or went well.

We turn to our final new year's article from a collection called "Stories For A Faithful Heart," and the story in question, again by an unnamed author, is entitled "New Year, New Man," rendered as follows:

When my son Scott called and asked to talk to me, I didn't want to take the call.  My wife, our other children and I had been through years of ups and downs with him and his drug abuse.  We'd heard a thousand promises and seen them broken twice as many times.  Scott had stolen from us, manipulated us, and failed us.  He had broken my wife's heart and turned my optimism into cynicism.  It had been a relief not to hear from him for two years.  Now he was on the phone, and he was just about the last person on earth I wanted to hear from.

"Get his number and tell him I'll call him back," I told my secretary, wanting time to think.  When I saw the area code, I realized Scott was in a different state, and my curiosity was stirred.  When I finally got myself psyched up to place the call, I was surprised when the woman who answered said, "Oakbridge Christian Center."

"Could I speak to Scott Granger, please?"

"Who's calling?"

"His father, returning his call." There was a brief pause, and then I heard Scott's voice.

"Hi, Dad.  Thanks for calling me back."

So began the most amazing phone conversation I've ever had.  Scott told me that he had been through another rehab program a year and a half ago, but this one had provided something no other program had offered.  "I met Jesus Christ," he explained.

"What does that mean?" I asked, wondering if he'd really lost his mind this time.

"It means that I've been forgiven for my past, that Jesus died for all my sins, and that He's given me a new life.  And I want to ask you and Mom to forgive me, too.  I'm born again, Dad.  I'm a new man."

He went on to tell me that he was actually working for the church, helping other addicts get their lives straightened out.  I was speechless, torn between the hope that he was really straightened out this time, fearful that he had become some kind of a religious fanatic, and cynical with the cold bitter thought.  Right.  Here we go again.

The young man who arrived at the airport two weeks later looked like a stranger to me.  He was well groomed and nicely dressed, and his eyes were bright and clear.  He was probably as nervous as I was, but he quickly and spontaneously took his mother in his arms, and they both began to cry.  I was braced for deception, but there was an undeniable difference in this initial meeting.

In the days that followed, Scott told us his story.  In the midst of drug withdrawal, he had seen a vision of Jesus Christ on the cross and had cried out to Him for help.  His withdrawal symptoms had ended instantly, and the experience had led him to a church.  "I asked Jesus to be my Lord," he quietly explained.  "And my life has never been the same since."

My wife and I had never really been churchgoers, but the change in Scott was too dramatic to ignore.  And when he showed us the story in the New Testament about the prodigal son, we discovered that, just as we had welcomed Scott home, God was waiting with open arms to welcome us home, too.  Today, ten years later, our family is a Christian family.  Jesus has taught us about forgiveness, new life, and renewed hope.  He has given us back the son we had lost.

And He has given us the same new life He gave to our prodigal son.

And there is the story for today.  Those of you who are parents who have had wandering children might very easily relate to this story.  In any case, I hope it ministered to all of us today.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your friend and brother in Christ, Paul