Giving the Gift of the Gospel

Sam Rainer

The voicemail on my cell phone yesterday did not bode well. It was Eric, and he simply stated that I needed to call him back. I had been praying hard for his grandfather, who was not doing well after heart surgery. The abrupt nature of the message left me thinking the worst. I quickly called him back.

“Eric, it’s Sam. What’s up?”
“Sam, thanks for calling me back. You’re not going to believe this!”

His tone lifted my spirits and replaced the knot in my throat with a twinge of hope.

“Is everything ok?”
“Sam, I led my grandfather to Christ this morning.”

The knot in my throat came back, but this time the tears that began to well in my eyes were ones of joy. His breath was short with excitement, but he told me the details of his morning. He had received a call from his grandmother at 5AM. She told Eric to come to the hospital immediately. His grandfather’s heart had softened, and he wanted to know about Jesus. He rushed out of the house, only to be stopped in traffic early in the morning. An accident had shut down the entire interstate. He sat in his car for two grueling hours.

“Satan tried everything to keep me from the hospital, but I was determined to get there,” Eric said.

I could sense the tears in his eyes; I was on the verge of weeping myself. Traffic eventually cleared. Upon arriving, he hurried into his grandfather’s room. He detailed how he used Romans 10 to share the gospel message with his grandfather. He communicated the entire message. His grandfather’s repentance and acceptance of God’s grace Eric knew to be genuine.

“Sam, we were praying for physical healing. And God gave him eternal healing.”

My good friend was obedient to the Great Commission. The fact that most accept Christ before their mid-thirties clearly did not weigh on his mind as he shared the greatest gift with his grandfather.

While his grandfather has much physical healing left, he now has a new heart, one that he can credit to the grace of God and the obedience of his grandson, my friend Eric.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, opening gifts and spending time with our families, let’s take a moment to reflect on the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. He came humbly, so that we might be saved eternally.

“Dude, I’m so stoked, I can hardly think straight,” Eric cheered.
I smiled on the other end of the phone, “Praise God, Eric, praise God.”

“Merry Christmas, my man.”
“Merry Christmas to you too.”