No More Dead Ends

As I peered through the window in the door leading into the jail pod, I saw a familiar face: the deputy on duty was a Christian whom I had met a while back. Seeing him there, gave me an added sense of faith and peace as I walked onto the floor.

"Hey, Joe, how's it going?"
"Good, Brian. I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"
"I've been going to different floors."

While we were chatting, I happened to notice another familiar face out of the corner of my eye: Tim was an inmate I had met over a year ago. I had had some interesting conversations with him in the past, so I decided to go spend some time with him and the young man he was with.

I greeted Tim and his friend Stan. "When I saw you walk in," Tim said, "I was hoping you wouldn't see me. They had released me since the last time I saw you. I was out for about a year, but then I got picked up for something else." He was lamenting the fact that he found himself back in the same place.

"It's sort of like driving a car trying to find a particular destination," I explained to him. "Oftentimes we run into dead end streets and start to head in a different direction. But then something comes over us and we try to go down the same street again. We think to ourselves, Maybe this time the street won't be a dead end. Of course it is--and we wonder why things haven't changed."

I told both of them, "The devil is going to hell and he's trying to drag both of you with him. Jesus came to give you a full life." I didn't know if Tim was registering all this, but I could see that Stan was. I asked him if anyone had ever told him how he could have the assurance of eternal life. He hadn't heard the gospel so I explained it to him.

"You can trust Jesus with your life because He died for you. It's like He jumped in front of you and took a bullet for you. That's a Person you can trust." The Lord was opening Stan's eyes. I continued, "You can be saved today, Stan--right now. You don't need to wait until you get out and go to church."

"How can I do that?" he asked.

"Be sincerely sorry for the sins you have committed, and tell God so. Ask Jesus to be Lord of your life. Get out of the driver seat and let Jesus drive. I'll lead you in a prayer and you pray out loud after me."

As I began the prayer, both Tim and Stan prayed to receive Christ. I was really happy for the two of them. Praise God for saving them and encouraging me in the process. I'm hoping to do a Bible study with them soon. Pray that they would get grounded in the Word and prayer. Pray that Tim's pregnant girlfriend, who's also in jail, will come to Christ as well.