Whom the Lord Loveth

There were a couple of instances during our last two week meeting that were insightful to me. As I reflected this morning, I realized that I did not share them with you who pray for us so regularly.

The first Sunday of the meeting, one of the men in the church brought his younger brother who, along with his girlfriend, was visiting from east Texas. The young man had grown up in a Christian home and knew what was right and wrong. He really appreciated my preaching and seemed to enjoy the straightforwardness of it. His girlfriend was quite the opposite, letting me know by her response to the preaching that she did not appreciate what I was saying. While the man in the church offered to put up the unmarried couple for the night, they decided to leave that night. "I have things to do" was the answer the younger brother gave. That night they did not take the direct route home, but headed west out of the way, intending to stop at a motel for the night. While at his older brother's house, the young man was not able to be in the same room with his girlfriend. Now at the motel, their wicked intentions could materialize. Before they reached the motel, however, their car hit a patch of black ice and, when it finally stopped rolling, was totalled. By the grace of God, neither of the young people were hurt, but it would be hard to prove that God was not sending them a message. The younger brother knew that he was saved, but he had also heard enough preaching that day to remind him that what he was about to do was wrong. He has requested the entire meeting on CD and his brother has purchased it for him.

Another similar story occurred in the second week. Another single man came to services on Wednesday of the second week. He said that he was unsure of his salvation and we sat down after the service and talked for a long time. At the end of the conversation, I thought that he was saved, because it seemed that the Lord was chastening him for wickedness after his conversion experience. He told me that he wanted to get right. I responded that a lot of people say that nowadays, but few really follow through. I gave him some things that he should do, reminding him, "If you are serious about doing what God wants you to do, you will be here every night this week." He assured me that he would, and, sure enough, there he was the next night. I asked him if he had read his Bible that morning and he told me that he had not. These were his words: "I spent the night at my girlfriend's house. I was there fornicating. So I didn't have the chance to read my Bible because it was at home." Friday night he was nowhere to be found. I was told later what happened. While the church people were fellowshipping after the service, this man had been drinking with a buddy of his whose girlfriend had just broken up with him. On the way home from the bar, he rolled his mother's Chevy Avalanche, landing in the front lawn of a Baptist church. Shortly after his conversion, he had gone down and bought some marijuana intending to bring it home and smoke it. On the way home, he was involved in an accident that should have taken his life. God spared his life, but his leg was so badly broken that it may not ever heal. The doctors tried to put it back together, but the screws did not hold and it came apart again. It seems that every time this young man tries to go back to his worldly habits, God does something else to get his attention.

It all serves as punctuation of the Scripture: "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."