Covenant Church

I was age 14 when the devil showed up in a very tempting way. She was a little older than I, and most striking. The offer was most tempting.

Sunday morning Dad preached. I was not listening. I was thinking about the offer. After Sunday dinner I walked out into the forest by myself. Finding a stump, I sat down to do some thinking -- powerful thinking.

Only 14 years old, I was. But it was time to think about life. Which way was I going to go? Would I answer the call to temptation? Would I choose pleasure for the moment?

What troubled me as I thought about the future was that I could not get past where yielding to temptation would take me. Sin can be so much fun for a little while (Hebrews 11:25).

What concerned me was when one chooses to sin -- sin is fun -- when does one decide not to sin any more? How can one say, "That was fun, but I am through with fun?" Thoughts filled my head with a thousand contradictions, or so it seemed. Yet, try as I might, there seemed to be no spirit within me to resist.
I was doing some powerful thinking. The more I thought the harder that stump became. But I knew a decision was going to be made. On the other side of that decision, life was waiting. What kind of life? If I chose to yield to temptation I feared that the temptation would take control of me. When would I stop? When is enough, enough? When does one say: "I have had all the fun I want?"

There was an additional concern. If one chooses a sin, what if that sin leads to another sin? Of this I could not be certain. However, it seemed reasonable as I sat on that stump to think that once the door of temptation was opened there might be secret sins to tempt further involvement in sin. Does one sin lead to another sin? Does each sin exist on its own basis? Not being a theologian, I was left to ponder and conclude that sin is a result of the devil and hell. The purpose of sin is to separate man from God. Therefore, it seemed reasonable that sin is rather like water -- it runs downhill. I concluded that one sin leads to another. That was frightening. The stump got harder.

The more I thought the more it became apparent to me that I was thinking myself into quite a fix. If I yielded to temptation, I did not know where temptation would lead me. Yet there was no power within me to resist.

I was in a hard spot. Of course, there was the alternative. I could ask Jesus to save me. Being saved was something I intended to do at some time in life. However, pleasure was calling. Oh, the dreams of a young man. Giving my heart to Jesus would mean a life change with a life plan, with Jesus being Lord. To give up my rights so early in life without temptation having its day seemed so unfair. Is it not said that young folks must have a time of "sowing wild oats?"

Like a thunderbolt it came to me. The thought was so striking that I forgot about that ole stump: THE ONLY CERTAIN WAY OUT OF MY DILEMMA WAS A SAVIOR! I needed a savior to save me from me!

That evening I went to church. Dad preached. I do not know what he said. My mind was made up. On the 2nd Sunday night of August 1959 I made my way down to the altar, knelt, and asked Jesus to be Lord of my life.

Oh, I have stumbled along the way, but the Savior has always been there. What a wonderful Lord! How gracious! How kind! How loving! How forgiving! How restoring! How merciful! He is Holy!

If I have critics reading this it will seem that paper and postage is being used for me to tell my story. In truth, this moment of openness is an effort to say that a stump awaits all of us. The stump represents our commitment to evaluate whether we will follow Jesus, or whether we will serve our own lust. Will we live life to our pleasure? Or will we ask Jesus to be Savior and Lord?

At the root of this issue is the fundamental question we each ask ourselves: Do we need a Savior? Of course we do, but until we sit on the stump and decide to ask Jesus to be Lord of our life, that stump just gets harder and harder.

With a prayer that you have decided to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24), I am
Prayerfully your,

Pastor Bare
Joshua 24:15 As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.