What Happened to Bob?

  “Bob has changed,” my husband said one night after work.

 “What do you mean? How?” I studied his face.

    He told me how Bob, a friend, cleaned up his act. All he talked about was Jesus.    That didn’t sound like the Bob I knew. Instantly, what God/Jesus had done for me when I was ten rushed into my mind. See previous post “If You are Up There, God” 3-23-25. That was twelve years earlier. I wanted to hear more from Bob, so we invited him and his family for dinner.

    Bob told of how he had joy and peace ever since he had asked Jesus’ Spirit into his heart. At Bob’s invitation, we went to a church service where an evangelist spoke. Many times, the preacher would say, “If you want to follow Jesus, come forward.” Remembering how God and Jesus’ compassionately answered my childhood prayer, I wanted to follow Jesus, but no one went forward. They just sat in their chairs. Since shyness followed me all the days of my life, I fidgeted. After hearing the invitation “to follow Jesus” for the tenth time, or so it seemed, my heart began to pound. Jesus wasn’t just knocking on the door of my heart, he was pounding. I couldn’t stand it. Even though no one else moved, I stood and forced my shaky legs along until I reached the evangelist. I could feel every eye staring at me.

    The evangelist peered down at me. “Why did you come forward?”

   Oh no! I did something wrong! I screamed inside. Immediately hot with embarrassment, I wanted to fall through the floor and disappear. My little voice squeaked out, “Uh, I want to follow Jesus.”

    The evangelist asked me to meet with him after the service. There he explained how my life trajectory had changed and what that meant for me. The evangelist smiled. “For example, if you died in a car accident on your way home, you would go to Heaven.”

    “But how can that be? I don’t deserve Heaven?”

    He looked at me with kind eyes. “God has forgiven you because Jesus paid the price for every wrongdoing by dying for all people. And today BECAUSE you accepted and believe Jesus and his sacrifice, Heaven is your future eternal home.”

    It took Romans, Philippians, and other written Words of God, to understand that Heaven is not a reward for the good that we have done. It is only because of our trust in Jesus and his sacrifice. Jesus makes all the difference in my life. I experience great joy and peace. He loves you dearly. That’s why he died for you. Jesus said, “Those who believe in me, even though they die … will live again.” John 11:25