Lord, Liar, Lunatic?
In 1997 at the age of 39, a series of events happened in my life that led me to put my faith in Jesus Christ. Think about that, I was 39 years old! Most believers come to the Lord by the time they turn 14 years old. The probability of a person becoming a Christian decreases with age, so I feel very blessed that God did not give up on me.
My story started six years earlier when I was transferred to another department at work. As it turned out my team lead was a Christian. His name was Mike and it didn’t take him long to share his faith with me, and it didn’t take me long to reject his faith. After all, I was a pretty intelligent guy with good morals and values (and an unrepentant sinner).
Thank God my resistance didn’t discourage Mike. He continued to talk about Jesus which led to many debates. I remember one debate clearly.
One day Mike asked me, “Ralph, who do you think Jesus is?” I responded, “He was a great philosopher.” Mike replied, “Jesus didn’t give philosopher as an option. The Bible says Jesus claimed to be God. So Jesus is either the Lord of the universe as He claimed, or He is a Liar. These are the only two options He left us.”
Then Mike continued, “if Jesus knew He was not God and lied, then He is a Deceiver, and if He believed He was God, and is not God, then He is a Lunatic.”
So the real question I was left with is, “is Jesus the Lord of the universe, or is He a Liar, or is He a Lunatic?”
It took six years and many other Christians planting seeds and watering them before I was able to answer that question and give my life to the Lord. Thank God for faithful believers like Mike who boldly shared their faith with knuckleheads like me. And I thank God for leaving the 99 to chase down one more lost sheep like me.
I share this story to encourage you to keep sharing your faith, even when you’re not seeing fruit. God is still working all things for His glory, but remember, it’s on His timetable.
We may never know all the people we have impacted until we see them in heaven, and not only will we be surprised to see them, but they may be surprised to see us!
My story started six years earlier when I was transferred to another department at work. As it turned out my team lead was a Christian. His name was Mike and it didn’t take him long to share his faith with me, and it didn’t take me long to reject his faith. After all, I was a pretty intelligent guy with good morals and values (and an unrepentant sinner).
Thank God my resistance didn’t discourage Mike. He continued to talk about Jesus which led to many debates. I remember one debate clearly.
One day Mike asked me, “Ralph, who do you think Jesus is?” I responded, “He was a great philosopher.” Mike replied, “Jesus didn’t give philosopher as an option. The Bible says Jesus claimed to be God. So Jesus is either the Lord of the universe as He claimed, or He is a Liar. These are the only two options He left us.”
Then Mike continued, “if Jesus knew He was not God and lied, then He is a Deceiver, and if He believed He was God, and is not God, then He is a Lunatic.”
So the real question I was left with is, “is Jesus the Lord of the universe, or is He a Liar, or is He a Lunatic?”
It took six years and many other Christians planting seeds and watering them before I was able to answer that question and give my life to the Lord. Thank God for faithful believers like Mike who boldly shared their faith with knuckleheads like me. And I thank God for leaving the 99 to chase down one more lost sheep like me.
I share this story to encourage you to keep sharing your faith, even when you’re not seeing fruit. God is still working all things for His glory, but remember, it’s on His timetable.
We may never know all the people we have impacted until we see them in heaven, and not only will we be surprised to see them, but they may be surprised to see us!
Posted in Ralph Gomez