Cuffs and Coffins

 Have you considered lately where you would be if you had never met the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? It is a worthwhile reflection. I know I was headed down a wrong road fast. I would never have discovered the life I have now. I dated a girl who was not saved. Very few in my family, except a great uncle and aunt, were followers of Jesus. I saw alcoholism on both sides of my family. Physical and sexual abuse were rampant. I idolized football and devoted my life to it. It had been years since I had darkened the door of a church before the night Jesus saved me and moved me to believe Him for salvation. 

Like one person recently told me, I was saved from cuffs and a coffin. I can see that for myself. I had a temper and loved to fight. I can see if I continued on my course without Jesus, I could have been arrested for assault. I once got in a fight in a neighborhood in the middle of the street and the police did show up. I did not get arrested, but I did spend some time in a hospital from knocking my opponent's tooth out and getting blood poisoning. I still have the scar on my knuckle. 

I did many foolish things before I met Jesus. Like hotrodding my truck and jumping a small wooden bridge you could clear with all four tires in the air if you got up enough speed. In hindsight, I could have been killed. While I never drank, I ran with many who did and rode in the vehicle with them. A boy we played with when were younger did the same thing and died burning to death in a car crash. It could have just as easily been me. 

Jesus rescued me from a life in the gutter. I certainly would have never met and married Brenda. I would not have had the four sons who bear my last name. I would not have met any of the friends I hold dearest in my heart. All of those things because of Jesus. Everything I have good in my life I owe to Him. My family, my purpose, my friends all came to me as blessings from the One who gave His all to purchase my redemption. 

Therefore, I see it as my privilege and duty to devote to my life to following Him. Today, that meant driving Brenda to physical therapy and then leading a basketball camp. In a couple of hours I will follow Him in teaching from John 5. My pledge to Jesus is to follow Him anywhere at anytime to do anything. That is not just lip service. I mean that to the core of my being. It is the reason I devote Sunday afternoons to sharing Him and His word at a substance abuse detox center. Many have come to know Jesus in that dark place. I want others to find the same One who saved me from cuffs and a coffin too.