By Steve Higginbotham
One week ago, on the morning of Sunday, May 9, 2021, John Dale of Murray Kentucky baptized Lestel Elkins into Christ. Lestel is 100 years old!
Can I tell you what makes me so happy about this event?
A Soul Has Been Saved in the “Eleventh Hour!” Not every person who has not obeyed the gospel has hardened his heart to the gospel. Countless people, who are presently lost, would obey the gospel if they understood what it is they are to obey and how to obey it. It is wonderful to know that this man, who lived 100 years without Christ, will now spend eternity with him!
Someone Never Gave Up On Mr. Elkins! Although Mr. Elkins had spent his long life outside of Christ, some Christian or Christians refused to allow the years this man lived outside of Christ to dissuade them from reaching out to him with the gospel. They shared the gospel with him and let him decide whether or not he wanted to obey the gospel, and didn’t decide for him. Mr. Elkins reminds me of our need to evangelize! It may be that there are people whom we may write off as disinterested, but have learned as Solomon learned, that after seeking many different paths, life is vain without God. May God, in his providence, use us to be that person who points them to Jesus!
God’s Patience, Providence, and Grace! I am so thankful that we serve a God who “delights” in mercy (Micah 7:18). Regardless of how much time we have spent pursuing our own will, God wants us when we “come to ourselves.” If God were only a God of justice, none of us would have any hope. But he is also a God of grace. The tension between justice and grace is satisfied in the cross of Jesus, allowing God to remain just and the justifier of men (Romans 3:26).