Brand New

Although the evangelistic series had only been running for four nights, Jason was insistent. “I need to be baptized. And I don’t want to wait.

I can’t wait. Will you baptize me?” Jason had begun to study the Bible and had accepted Jesus as his Lord and personal Savior.

His wife had helped him understand the teachings of Scripture, and he was ready to make a decision. The baptistry was in place and filled with water. And in two days, Jason was going to jail. He said he had made some unwise decisions in the past and had been sentenced to four months in the county jail.

“I have to pay my debt to society,” Jason told me.

“But I want to go in there as a Christian, having given my life to Jesus.” The next night, Jason was baptized. He spoke from the baptistry about how his life spiraled downward after his brother died young. He urged people not to delay but to make a decision for Jesus. And twelve hours later, Jason was in jail.

Twelve months passed, and I was sent a photo of a young man I didn’t recognize. He was clean-cut, wore glasses, a shirt, and tie; and looked like a model in an ad for a mortgage brokerage or an insurance company.

Knowing I was supposed to know who this was, I looked and looked again. “No way!” I said. “It can’t be. Can it?!” It was Jason, out of jail eight months and now the pastor’s right-hand man at his local church. Jason was active, involved, and doing all he could to serve the Lord and the church. It seems Paul was writing about Jason’s situation when he wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jason and countless others like him are evidence that God is truly able. Don’t give up on those who make bad decisions.

God can turn lives around, just like He turned around Jason.