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GailFriends - Thank You for The Tract
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GailFriends - Thank You for The Tract
By Gail Golden
Publicist and Ministry Partner - Pocket Full of Change Ministries
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16 (NIV)
Thank you for leaving the tract on the table I am so grateful for your loving concern in leaving it there that day. Your obedience to the voice of the Holy Spirit played a big part in my conversion.
I was a Bible teacher, and attending training classes at Lake Yale Baptist Assembly. In between classes, I slipped into the snack shop for a soda. As I sat down, I noticed a little cartoon booklet on the table next to mine. I picked it up and started reading. It was a story about a man who had passed away. The man had been a very active leader in his church. He went to church every Sunday, tithed, prayed, and even taught the Bible. After his death, he stood before Jesus at Judgment Day. Sadly, Jesus said “Depart from me I never knew you.” The man was devastated and began to tell Him all the good works he’d done on earth. Jesus shook his head sadly, and again said, “Depart from me, you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23)
That scripture chilled me to the bone. I felt convicted to the depths of my heart. Would God say those words to me? I pushed that thought from my mind, but it kept coming back. I thought of it often in the days ahead.
While I had gone to church as a child, and had been baptized, I knew something was missing in my life. I believed in God, but I could tell that I did not know Him the way other people did. When around Christian people, I knew they had something I didn’t have. A woman at my church asked me if I had ever been born again. I muddled that question over in my mind. I have been baptized, I teach Sunday School, and I tithe. Then I would remember the tract. Would Jesus say those dreaded words to me…“Depart from me. I never knew you”?
Over the next several months, I became more and more convicted. The contrast between my Christian friends and me seemed more dramatic. I began to feel lost and alone. I felt empty. I hungered for something I couldn’t put my finger on.
One day, the conviction became intense. Sitting at my dining room table with my Bible, I called out to God, “Am I like that man? Would you say those words to me? Please show me.”
Trembling, I opened my Bible and there on the page, printed in red were the dreaded words of Jesus, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Horrified, I slammed my Bible shut and thought: How weird is that? Nervously, I got up from the table and went on about my business.
Conviction followed me. It would not let me go. I thought about that verse day and night. I argued with myself constantly. You believe in Jesus. You believe He died on the cross and rose again. Repeatedly the tape ran through my head. Repeatedly, I saw the tract and heard the dreaded words of Jesus.
I began to seek God’s face. I cried out for understanding. He lovingly showed me that while I mentally agreed with the facts about Jesus, I had never repented. I had followed the mechanics of salvation, but my heart had not been involved.
God is holy. When we repent, His Holy Spirit comes inside us. That means change comes. His holiness comes inside us. I meditated on that thought. A holy God would come inside me. I was a good person, but I knew, as no other person did, the depths of sin in my heart: the rebellion, the willfulness, the desire to have my own way. I knew those things would have to be surrendered. I didn’t make a quick decision to do it. It was serious. It was giving up my will. I understood, for the first time, what repentance meant, and I didn’t want to do it. I liked going to church and reading the Bible and everything that the Christian life stood for, but I wanted to do it “my” way. The Bible calls that “being a fool”.
I played the fool for a few more months, until, one day I could not go any further. Conviction hounded me day and night. God was calling my name. In the middle of a horrible fight with a relative (during which I had laryngitis), I came to the end of myself. I realized I could not go on one more minute without God in my life.
I went to my bedroom, closed the door, got down on my knees, and repented. “God, I know you are holy, and I am a sinner. I need you. I surrender all to you. Please save me.” It was a simple prayer, but the effect was profound. I felt a heavy weight lift from my shoulders, and I got up from my knees with peace.
My life changed from that day forward. What I had done in church work for duty became delight. Prayer went from dryness to a time of refreshment. Reading the Bible was like opening a beautiful gift. I began to hear God’s voice and that gentle, sweet relationship with Him has grown sweeter and more precious than anything else in life. Today, I can say that knowing Him is my greatest joy.
So, thank you, whoever you are. Perhaps in heaven we will meet -you and I, and the others who have come to know Jesus from the tracts “WE” have left behind
Gail is a ministry partner with and Publicist for Pocket Full of Change Ministries. For more information, to schedule a speaker for an event, or to request a newsletter, go to www.pocketfullofchange.org or call Gail Golden, Publicist at 904 316-5462. This ministry is supported by donations. If this ministry helps you or others, and God calls you to help support this work, you can make a donation to Pocket Full of Change Ministry at POB 51205, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240.
© Pocket Full of Change Ministries
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