Heavenly Joy

As was customary on Fridays, I went to the church to attend the youth group Friday evening Bible study. My class of senior high school girls had for the most part gone on a short-term mission trip to Peru and I was not sure if anybody would come. But I prepared for a Bible study and went to the church.

To my surprise, there was one student. It was a new girl, who had recently come over from Korea to study in the States. She did not speak English well, but was willing to study the Bible with me one-on-one. When we began the study, it became immediately obvious that she hadn't done this before. She did not know where the Gospel of John was in the Bible. She freely admitted that she did not know. I abandoned the original study plan and decided that we needed to talk about something more fundamental and more important to her.

We read from Psalm 19. We talked about how God has revealed Himself to man -- in His creation and in His Word. We talked about man's sin and alienation from God, about God's redemptive works through Jesus Christ, and how one can be saved by believing in Jesus. Then I asked her if she would be willing to ask God for forgiveness of her sins on account of Jesus. She said yes -- that was the most joyful sound I heard in a long time. We prayed together, with me giving her the words to say and her repeating after me. But it was her prayer of confessing her belief in the Lord Jesus and in her own redemption through Him. I am absolutely sure that God heard her prayer and has accepted her into His family. We then read John 3:16 and I Corinthians 15 and talked about eternal life and our hope of resurrection. She seemed to absorb all of that like a sponge and with childlike trust.

Though I have been a Christian all my life, I have not been diligent about sharing my faith with others. The last person I brought to Jesus was my deskmate in junior high. More than 35 years have passed since then, until today I had one more chance with someone who walked into the church on her own and, with no persuasion from me, was moved by the Holy Spirit to accept the Lord as her Redeemer.

Lord, all praises and honor are lifted up to you. You alone are holy and mighty. You love us so much and have done this great work of redeeming the girl. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. In Jesus' name, Amen.