My Jesus Story

By Jenni Ingram
First Baptist Church, Gantt

I want to talk to you about how Jesus can restore a hurting heart. When I began thinking about the topic of this column, Valentine’s Day was on my mind — specifically people who are lonely.

Then tragedy struck in my life and I changed my thinking. I lost three friends in six days. With two of them, I have no idea where they stood with the Lord. The other I know is healed and resting in the arms of our Father.

Although I am grieving for all three, it is the grief for the two friends whose eternity I don’t know that hurts the worst. I feel as if I failed them, as if I wasn’t a good enough friend to ask them if they had accepted Jesus.

Death is an eventuality for everyone. I once heard it said that no one gets out of this life alive. This body was created from dust and to dust it will return (Gen. 3:17). The question is — where will you spend your eternity? You will only have two choices, heaven or hell. You will only get to heaven by accepting the free gift of salvation of Jesus. We are told in Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else (Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

I am not a prophet. I am not a doomsday enthusiast. I am, however, a realist. I can see the writing on the wall — Jesus is coming back soon. Regardless of that, we are not guaranteed another second, another breath, another heartbeat.

Don’t put off telling your friends and family how much you love them. Don’t put off taking care of what is important in your life. And most importantly, friends, please don’t put off accepting salvation from Jesus.