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PROGRAM D-7490
If you’re like me, you like instant response, quick resolutions. But let’s face it—very few people come to saving faith in Jesus in one brief encounter.
For example, it’s very rare indeed for a person to have what you might call a doorstep conversion: Someone knocks on their door, they listen to an explanation of the Gospel, and before they sit down, they’ve accepted Jesus as Savior and committed their life to him. For most people it’s a journey, from the time they are confronted with the claims of Christ to the time they become a true disciple.
Think about the Apostle Paul. He had a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, but that was simply the end of a journey for him. A journey that began with all the teaching he had received from Gamaliel even in his youth, and the encounters he had already had with the disciples. Think of the impact it must have been on him to watch Stephen die a martyr’s death. All of those experiences culminated on that road to Damascus when he heard the call of Jesus on his life.
And that is true for most everyone. So, pray the long game with the people in your life who don’t seem to care to hear about your faith in Jesus and what Jesus can do for them. Don’t expect a doorstep conversion and don’t give up even when much time has passed. I think of my dear friend, Fran, who never gave up on her father, and two weeks before he died at the age of 92, he confessed Jesus as Lord of his life, after many years of praying and loving and talking by Fran. Don’t ever give up believing that God’s arm is not shortened and he can save anyone, even that person in your life who simply doesn’t show any interest at all in hearing about Jesus.
