One hot summer morning I was on my way to a business meeting. I first stopped to pick up my friend, Bruce, and I was surprised when he insisted that I wait long enough for him to summon a neighbor for me to meet.
This neighbor, J. T. Holbrook, was a taciturn sort of fellow, and when Bruce volunteered the information that I was a preacher, I could feel the wall of resistance that J.T. had built up around himself.
Silently seeking the Lord’s guidance, I came straight to the point by asking J.T., “Do you not long to know the love of God in Christ Jesus? Would not your life be happier and more meaningful if you had Christ as your Saviour?”
I saw a puzzled expression on the man’s face, and I asked more directly: “Are you a lost sinner?”
His expression changed completely. First shock, then shame, followed by—was it despair?—registered on his face. His voice came to me almost in a whisper: “Lost? Yes, lost! Man, you hit it on the head!”
Louder, he demanded: “Come in here with me.” With a quick glance at my watch I followed him, hoping to be able to keep to my morning’s schedule.
Inside, the troubled man turned to face me. Almost hysterical, he blurted out: “Man, you said it. I am lost, and how lost God alone knows. I’m just about at the end of my rope, and Satan holds the other end. Now where do I go? Which way do I turn? Who has the answer?”
The poor fellow was now crying, and I knew I must try to point him to the only One who has all the answers. One after another I quoted verses from the Bible which came into my mind, such as:
“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Realizing that J.T. was now quieter, I knelt beside my chair and committed him and his problems to the God of all grace. As I told him good-bye, I wondered if he had understood what he had just heard, but he did not seem inclined to talk further.
However, as I started out he asked if he might ride with us. Gladly we made room in the car, hoping to be able to help him. This was not to be at that time, for at the nearest drugstore he asked to be let out.
All that day I was troubled by thoughts of the weeping man, and constantly I cried to the Lord for him and his problems. Oh, that I might have another talk with him! God answered this prayer by a phone call from J.T. It came after supper as I was preparing to leave for a special meeting. “Mr. Jay,” he said, “if you are the preacher who talked to me this morning, will you come right now and answer some questions?”
Thanking the Lord for answering my prayer, I still felt that I must keep my appointment first. I promised to see him after the meeting. Exclaiming, “You preachers are all alike!” he slammed the phone down.
Immediately after the meeting I drove to the little cottage where I had talked to J. T. Holbrook that morning. Nearing the Holbrook home, I saw that the house was dark, but pacing the sidewalk in front was the figure of a man. By the light of my headlights I soon recognized J.T. While I drew up to the curb he stood there silently watching, and as I stepped out he greeted me almost apologetically with, “I thought you were like the rest: all talk.”
I waited quietly while he seemed to be gathering his courage. At last he spoke: “You preachers! All you can do is quote the Bible and pray, and I had told you I was lost—I still don’t know where I am nor what to do. I’m at the end of my rope! This morning when I left you and went into the drugstore, my mind was made up. Death is easy and cyanide is quick, but old John would not let me have it.
“That had been my final resort—to end it all. But some of those verses this morning have given me second thoughts. Maybe there is something more than death for me—and if there is, please, oh please, tell me!”
Together we went into the house again. With the light turned on, we sat close to each other as we read some of the verses given that morning. Using these same scriptures I sought to show this desperate man God’s way to eternal life. He quickly accepted the fact that his sinful nature as well as his sinful life had separated him from a holy God and that his only hope of salvation lay in genuine repentance for his sins and a living faith in the shed blood of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we talked of the wonderful love that had brought the Lord of glory into this world of sin and sorrow, small noises in the next room betrayed the presence of an unseen listener. I was just rising to leave when this person entered the room, and J.T. introduced his wife. Her eyes shining with joy, she exclaimed, “Mr. Jay, I’ve never heard anything like this. You have made it all so plain and so wonderful. How can we help but love that blessed One?”
Mrs. Holbrook’s wholehearted acceptance of the Lord seemed to be the final touch to break down whatever barriers remained in J.T.’s heart. With his arms around both his wife and myself, we three lifted our hearts in thanksgiving and praise to the Saviour of sinners. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).