Urgency

I spent about 90 minutes on a Facebook chat with a man who graduated from the same high school that I did but several years earlier. We didn’t really know each other but through a sequence of posts on Facebook we began the chat.

Regarding religion, he is Buddhist, it anything. He leaned that way but really didn’t believe anything.

I’m Christian and unashamedly so.

The chat was interesting.

I talked about salvation in Jesus Christ alone. He said he could embrace Christianity except for the part about Jesus being God. The problem is that you can’t be Christian and not believe that.

My friend was home in Arkansas for just a short time then returned overseas to teach. We had no contact since then.

I learned that he died earlier this week. To my knowledge, he had not embraced Jesus Christ for salvation. I hope there is something I don’t know and that he and I can strike up a friendship in heaven for eternity.

I learned something a year ago. Everyone wants love, forgiveness, and redemption. They may not know how to express that desire but that is an inner longing.

I learned something this week. The need to share the gospel with all people is an urgent need. Time is short. Eternity awaits us all.