We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us -- and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
--1 John 3:16
A number of years ago I was invited to lead a Bible class at an Indiana prison. Prior to the invitation, I had given sermon entitled "Do You Wear the Cross or Bear the Cross?". One of my church members who was employed at the prison thought the message might be beneficial to some inmates.
This was a whole new thing for me, but I have a penchant for adventure. I went.
Once there, I made my way through more checkpoints than I can recall. We ended up in the maximum security area. There were about twenty inmates who were members of a Christian fellowship.
I gave my message.
When the program finished, a prisoner approached me. He expressed his gratitude, and I gave what encouragement I could. He said, "I'm in here for three days." "Wow! That's great," I replied. "Oh, you don't understand," he went on. My face revealed uncertainty. "Prison lingo," he said. "You don't understand prison lingo. 'Three days' is prison lingo for three life terms. Jesus Christ is my only hope. I have sinned like you cannot imagine. I can only trust the blood will cleanse me. And preacher man, I'd give my life for any one of my brothers."
We surely can doubt the sincerity of people for all kinds of reasons. But there, in the maximum security holding area, I didn't have a doubt that day.
PD
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