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Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
The following Wednesday, Katie and Joanna were at the Williamson home and cleaning the house together while the children took a nap.
“Do you believe what the pastor said in the sermon?”
Joanna jerked her head up. “About what?”
“The narrow way and Jesus being the only way to heaven.”
“Yes, I do believe that.”
“Why?”
Joanna sat down and motioned for Katie to join her. “I believe that God’s Word is true and God said that in the Bible. But more than that, I know it’s true because He saved me.”
Katie wrinkled her nose. “From what? You are pretty much the most perfect person I know.”
Joanna laughed. “I wasn’t always like this and I’m far from perfect even now.”
Katie shook her head. “How were you different?”
Joanna leaned her chin on her hands. “I was quietly rebellious. I never outright rebelled, but inside I talked back to my mother and father all the time. It wasn’t until I was fifteen that I realized I needed a Savior who was Lord of my life. At first I thought the same thing as you. I thought it would be too restricting. I thought it would be horrible to let God control your life.”
“But it isn’t?”
“No, it was freeing. I no longer had to control what would happen to me. I could trust that God would do that for me and it would ultimately be for my good. I haven’t always followed God’s leading, and when I don’t I get in trouble. Like with that awful man. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to that party, but I wanted to, so I did. Afterwards, I prayed God would provide a way out of the wedding, and He did.”
“It still seems so hard.”
Joanna put her hand on Katie’s. “It is. But it’s also very simple.”
Katie rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. “How can it be both at the same time?”
“God offers His Son as a gift, so it’s simple because all you have to do is accept the gift. But it’s hard, because you have to surrender your day to Jesus every day.”
“I know God sent His Son, Jesus, to die, but what does that have to do with a gift? Or how is it a gift?”
Joanna stared at the table for a few seconds. “Let’s say you gave me a gift, maybe a jeweled hair comb, and you wrapped it in pretty fabric and carefully tied a ribbon around it. Then you handed it to me and I held the box and said I couldn’t take it. I didn’t deserve it and you had spent too much on it. You would be offended, right?”
“Concerned maybe, but not offended.”
“All right, so what if I unwrapped the gift and then said I couldn’t take it? What would you think then?”
“OOHH!” Katie exclaimed. “I get it! God gave us Jesus as a gift to save us from our sins and from going to hell. If we hear about Jesus and don’t receive Him, we’re rejecting the unwrapped gift. And if we hear about Jesus, accept His teachings, and then don’t receive Him as Lord, we’re rejecting the opened gift.”
Joanna stared at Katie. “I was thinking something a little different from that, but yes.”
“So what do I do?”
“Are you really sure you want to do this?”
Katie took a deep breath. “Yes.”
Joanna smiled and jumped up. She searched the room for the Bible she knew was nearby. “Do you know Romans 10:9?”
Katie thought and shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
Joanna opened the Bible and pushed it toward Katie. Katie looked at the page. “Where should I start? Verse nine is the middle of a sentence.”
“So start at the beginning of the sentence and read through verse eleven.”
“‘But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, though shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.’” Katie paused. “So all I have to do is call on God, believe, and confess?”
Joanna smiled. “Yes.”
Katie chewed her lip. “Do I have to do it out loud?”
“No, you don’t. If you’d prefer, I can find something to do outside.”
Katie took a deep breath. “Actually, if you could find Luke, there’s something I should tell him. But don’t interrupt him if he’s in the middle of something. It can wait.”
“How long will it take? I’m assuming he’ll want to know.”
Katie shrugged. “Shouldn’t be more than a half hour.”
Joanna nodded. “I’ll be right back.” She stood up and headed out to find Luke.
A couple minutes later, she stopped. He was on his way back already. He caught up to her quickly, a concerned look on his face. “Is something wrong?”
Joanna shook her head. “No, Katie would like to talk to you about something.”
“Why didn’t she come out here?”
Joanna looked down. “She had to finish up something first.”
Luke raised his eyebrows, but said nothing more until they got to the house. “Do I get any clues?”
“I don’t have any to give you.”
“You don’t know either.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I guess I’ll find out, then.”
Joanna smirked. “I guess so.”
