What would the Lord do with an old man who had spent all of his years chasing everything but Him? A man who had burned through the so-called best years of his life on reckless living, never once pausing to consider the God who made him. Not on a Sunday morning. Not in a quiet moment. Not even when the world slowed down.
But then, one night, something shifted. The man, worn out and used up, knelt beside his bed. In his hands was a Bible. Dusty and untouched. The one his mother had given him as a child. He opened it for the first time, and it fell to John 3:16.
And there, with no script, no ceremony, and no credentials, he prayed:
“God, I don’t know if You’re listening to me right now. You’ve got no reason to, considering who’s talking to You. I know I’ve lived a wild life. I never spent a Sunday morning in church. But I’m here now, and I’m tired. I don’t want any more of what I’ve had. I want something real. And I believe You have it.
I see here You’re offering everlasting life. I assume it’s not the kind of life I’ve been living. So, I’m asking You, if You could ever be so kind, to let me have it.
It says whoever believes can receive it. Here I am. I believe. Take this old body, worn out, used up, and do with it what You will for however many more miles I’ve got. It’s Yours. I hope You’ll have mercy and accept it. Amen.”
And how would the Lord respond? He would not count the wasted years. He would count this moment. And He would say, “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away” (John 6:37). He would say, “Welcome home.”
That is how He responds to someone who never knew Him. How much more, then, will He affectionately receive His own who have wandered away?
Something to take just a moment to consider today.
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