One in Christ

"Hey, Brian, just in time," the deputy on duty said to me as I walked into the pod. "I got 'em all ready for you." There were six men sitting around two tables put together. All of them had their Bibles open and were reading from the gospel of Luke.

I sat down and introduced myself to the guys I didn't know. Ian was a one-month-old Christian; Phil was less than a week old in the Lord. What a privilege to be sitting with "newborns" in Christ. One of the inmates, Ray, was leading the Bible study. He appeared to be in his 40's and was quite knowledgeable biblically. Each man took his turn reading several verses and was then asked to comment on what he had read. Ray would add his own commentary from time to time.

At one point, the deputy sat down at the table. He was genuinely interested in the study. I could tell he was well-like by the inmates gathered around the table. I knew he was a Christian and offered him my Bible so he could follow along. He graciously passed on the offer--I'm guessing because he was on duty. A little while later, another jail official sat down with us briefly and began talking about the Lord. It was a great reminder that in Christ there is neither inmate nor deputy nor civilian, but we are one in Him who gave His life for us that we might live.

Toward the end of our gathering I asked the group if everyone present had heard the gospel message and had assurance of salvation. Two of them said, "Yeah, when I got saved it was like a weight lifted off of me." A couple guys weren't sure, so I explained the way of salvation to them. One man thought he was saved already, but wanted to make sure. I led him in a prayer to make Jesus Lord of his life. Afterwards he said, "It's nice to know that I can be sure now."

It was a great time spent with those guys. Pray that all these guys will continue to grow in their faith. Pray that they drink the pure milk of the Word every day, and keep gathering to encourage and pray for one another.