Never Too Far Gone
Well, having come to Christ in an amazing way, Michael decided to start trying to share his faith wherever he went. He tells some interesting stories of trying to do this, including one when he was in Paris and he stayed with a student named Terren, who was quite a wild character and did some strange things. Michael tried to share the faith with him and he was mildly interested, but was far more interested in sleeping around and doing all the things he was doing.
A Life Without Peace
Sometime later, just before Michael was going to leave Paris, he realized that he needed to share the faith with Terren again, and so he went and found him and was wondering how he was going to bring up the subject. But he said the opportunity to speak of cross came quite naturally because Terren started to open up about how empty his life was and how he was having terrible nightmares and in fact spent the last night just roaming the streets, tormented with fear, wondering if he should just end his life.
No One Is Too Far Gone
And so, Michael told him about his own conversion and about what Christ could do in his life, and Terren with sadness in his. Work about her. He'd had a conversion before, but he'd drifted away.
Michael felt that God was using him to seek out a lost sheep. But his friend said, “I feel too ashamed now ever to return to Christ. I've sinned far too grievously against him.” And as much as Michael tried to tell him that he was not too far gone, Terren just continued to reject Jesus and Michael went on his way.
God’s Grace is Enough
I think it's sad that people can feel that they're too far gone for God to save them. Paul called himself the worst of sinners, or the chief of sinners. God saved him!
In fact, the great mystery of the gospel, as Paul said in Romans 5, is that God died for us while we were still sinners - in other words, even while we didn't deserve it, He loved us enough to die for us.
Terren would have found the grace of God if he opened his heart up to him. He was not too foregone, and neither are any of us.
Friends, maybe you need to remember that today and come back to the God who loves you. Or maybe, maybe you need to be praying for those who feel that they're too far gone, like Terren. That God will intervene in their lives and remind them that no matter how far you've gone, God has open arms for all who will repent and come home.
