Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
When you finish your round of golf, it’s time to add up your total score. As you reflect back on the holes you played, you surely will remember the good shots that resulted in a birdie or perhaps saving a par.
There may also have been some shots that you hit exactly as planned, but a bad break resulted in an unlucky bogey. On the other hand, there just may have been a shot or two that weren’t very pretty, but luck was on your side, and you avoided the outcome that the shot deserved.
The point is, we all have experienced rounds where we’ve hit beautiful and ugly shots. We’ve all experienced fortunate bounces and unlucky breaks. When it comes to determining your official handicap index, what matters is the score. As the old saying goes, they don’t give style points on a scorecard.
The same principle applies to how you find the Lord or, better said, how the Lord finds you. Reflect on the stories of salvation we read in the Bible. The tax collector, Zacchaeus, found the Lord sitting in a sycamore tree (Luke 19:1-9). The Pharisee Saul persecuted Christians until he saw the light (literally!) on his journey to Damascus (Acts 9:1-22).
At Calvary, one of the criminals crucified with Jesus found salvation hanging on a cross just hours from his death (Luke 23:42-43). These people found salvation sitting in a tree…walking along the road…hanging from a cross. How they found salvation isn’t what ultimately mattered; what mattered was that they were all saved.
In his famous book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says nothing else you do will in your life will matter as much as helping people establish an eternal relationship with God. That’s what matters.
You may know someone who can point to a specific moment when they gave their life to Christ, perhaps a mountaintop experience or a breathtaking moment similar to Saul on the Damascus Road. I volunteer with a ministry that works with ex-felons transitioning from incarceration to society. I can tell you that many of them came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior while praying on a cold cement floor locked in a prison cell.
Christianity stands apart from all other major religions. Others speak of following certain rules, performing specific acts, and doing good works. But instead of following a prescribed path, Jesus says, “Follow me.” When having a relationship with Jesus, it doesn’t matter where…how…or when it happened. What matters is that they meet the “who” of the equation, Jesus Christ.
Our role is not to be passive bystanders waiting for this to happen. Jesus makes his command very clear in the Great Commission. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Prayer: Father, thank you for finding me and adopting me into your family. Help me lead others to this same blessing. Amen