Jericho Road, Johnny

I wanted to take a moment and ask that you continue to pray for Jericho Road and the ministry that is going on there. As you may or may not know, I have been teaching a Bible study there for the last 10 months or so. This past week was my last time teaching there and I am really going to miss those guys. There is an awesome crew of guys there right now. We spent the last 10 months in the book of Mark and wrapped it up in the last couple weeks with the betrayal, death, and resurrection of our King Jesus. I wanted to share a sweet story and an awesome way to close out my time there:

I have been bringing Johnny with me to the Bible study off and on. He loves it and they guys like him. I brought him a few weeks ago as we studied in detail the death of Christ and the sacrifice that was made. Perhaps a lot more detail than he has heard in Sunday school and coloring books. I could tell that he was affected by the fact that he was beginning to understand what, exactly, Jesus took on our behalf. The beatings and the mockery alone is enough to make you cringe, not to mention the actual act of crucifixion. I decided beforehand, knowing what Johnny was going to hear, that I would bring him back to hear the next part of the story. The Resurrection. Equally heavy. Rachel told me before I left for Bible study that she felt led to pray for someone to be saved that night and you could feel the Holy Spirit in that tiny classroom at the Jack Purcell Community Centre. After Bible study was over Johnny and I had to take a carload of the guys home. When we dropped them off, Johnny started asking some deep questions about jail and punishment. Questions you know he had been thinking about for a while. He asked me first, “How long do you go to jail if you steal something?”, then “How long if you kill someone?”. I told him about different laws and the accompanying punishment and how they vary in different countries. I told him how there is a punishment, or consequence, for everything that you do wrong. Whether it’s life in prison for murder or a couple hundred dollar speeding ticket, there is going to be a consequence. Johnny fully understood this.

The door was opened to tell him, as I have before, about God’s law and the punishment that comes along with that. I said that the Bible says that if you break one you break them all and I asked Johnny if he had ever sinned. Reluctantly he said that he had. I told him that God’s standard is perfection and when we sin we fall short. If you can’t meet God’s standard of perfection you can not spend eternity with Him. I then went on to tell him that I’ve sinned, Mommy has sinned, everyone he knows has sinned. By this point his eyes began to well up. He really understood this. I asked, “what does this mean, then?” Very shallowly, he answered, “Nobody goes to heaven.” I told him that he was right. Praise God, though, that He didn’t chalk up humanity to a loss and walk away. I told Johnny that we all deserve punishment and there is nothing that we can do ourselves to get out of this. But then I asked, “What if I told you that someone else, someone Who loves you so much has already taken the punishment for you and that you don’t have to suffer now?” Johnny began to smile and asked, “Jesus?” Proudly, I said, “Yes! Jesus loves you so much that He died on the cross and took the punishment that was meant for you and me. All you have to do is put your faith and trust in Jesus and surrender to Him.” That may have been a little deep, Johnny said, “I want to do that, how do I do that?” Fighting back tears, in the car on the way home from Bible study, I said, “Well, let’s pray together.” Johnny asked me to help him so I started and told Johnny to say what I was saying from his heart.

It’s amazing to see the Holy Spirit work in the heart of a five year old. I know that God has big plans for Johnny. He has such a big heart and loves people. I am thankful that I can already experience the joy that is talked about in 3 John 1:4: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

Please take a minute and pray for Johnny as you think about him during your day.

Grace and peace,
Ryan

Matthew 9:37-38

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