“You read the bible two hours a day?” That’s what I was thinking when I first met Skylar, a sophomore on the hockey team at Babson College. This summer, Skylar was in Florida working at Universal Studios, where he met some Christians who introduced him to Jesus Christ. He started reading the bible on his own.
Skylar was halfway through proverbs when I met him in September. I shared an outline of the gospel www.twowaystolive.com.
I explained to him that ultimately, there are two ways to live. We can live as if we’re in control of our life, resulting in death and judgment, or we can live as if God is in control of our lives, submitting to Christ, depending on his death and resurrection, resulting in forgiveness and eternal life.
“I agree with all you’ve said, and I think I want to be a Christian, but I’d like to finish reading the bible first.”
“You know, Skylar, I’m really excited that you want to read the bible, and I encourage you to do so, but I’d love to tell you that you don’t have to wait. If you know that you’re a rebel against God, and would prefer to live his way, you can ask him to take control of your life today.”
I didn’t pressure him, though, and it was a couple weeks until I saw him next.
I got a phone call a couple weeks ago. “Did you hear about Skylar?”
“No.”
“Well, I asked him how he was doing on his bible reading and he told me he was almost done with the Old Testament [aside: he’s now through Romans]. I told him I knew you had talked with him about the gospel and I asked him where he was with that decision. ‘Oh,’ he replied, ‘I asked Christ into my life the night Brian shared with me.'”
You can imagine I was pretty excited to hear that. It’s really great to see God at work. I did so little. Just the last little push.
It’s like Paul’s line: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God made it Grow.”
I thank you so much for your continued support.
God Bless,
Brian
Brian Ellis 