Most of all I was impressed as Nathaniel was listening to the lesson, he kept thumbing through his Bible. At first I thought of correcting him, thinking he was not listening. It turns out, he was not only listening, but was connecting some of the lesson with his recent studies. Some of the verses that I posted from Nathaniel's blog post turned out to be greatly helpful in sharing the Gospel with Jeremy that night at Bible study.Nathaniel was listening as we considered why Jesus had to die, what God desires from us, and whether someone has to "clean up" their life in order to be saved. The Bible tells us that we can never clean ourselves up enough, and that only the sacrifice of a perfect man, Jesus Christ, would be enough to pay the penalty for our sins. Nathaniel pointed out those passages from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and a few from Romans that were exactly what was needed from God's Word at that moment.
I am just so happy that Nathaniel cares for lost souls, that he is thinking and praying about these things. As my partner in ministry, Nathaniel has seen people of all types, depressed, suicidal, proud, self- righteous, all in need of a Savior. Not once has he said anything negative about one of these contacts, but rather prays for them and asks how we can help them to see the truth. He is certainly growing each day in his walk with the Lord, and the fruit has become more and more evident lately. Parenting is a great responsibility, but also a great privilege and a chance to share the wisdom we have gained from the Lord. I hope we all continue to grow in the grace of God, so that we will be more useful for His service.
Mark
