Because they have (the Word), they should receive (salvation). But in thinking this, I am losing sight of what a true miracle being born again really is. No one seeks for God on their own – neither children of missionaries, pastors, AWANA kids – no one. For anyone to have a desire for the Lord is evidence that the Spirit has taken a dead soul and made it alive. 

This week I saw the power of the Word of God transform someone before my eyes. Also, this week, I witnessed the Word of God further harden my children who are all too accustomed to ignoring it.

Starting with the happier story, a father of a 15-year-old Bakoum girl asked me to sit down and talk to her about some serious sin that was in her life. She wasn’t listening to him, but he was hopeful that she would listen to me. So, I sat down with her and asked her if she had heard the story of the prodigal son. She said she hadn’t, so I got some pictures and told her the story. I explained to her that the prodigal son did not see the love of his father, but just his commands. Leaning on his own understanding, he left his father and ended up realizing that his wisdom was inferior to that of his father’s. In the pig pen, he saw clearly his father’s love and his own folly. He went home and confessed that he had sinned both against God and against his father.

My young friend was captivated by this story and saw that she too was leaning on her own understanding rather than that of her Creator’s and her Father’s. She also saw that the love of her Creator was so great that he even sent his own Son to die for her sins. I watched her melt into repentance before my eyes as she said, “I need to go home now and tell my father I have sinned against Heaven and against him.” I have seen her since and she said that she did just that. Through a simple story that she had never heard before, she understood the gracious character of God and the seriousness of her sin. The power of the Word of God – making the dead alive right in my backyard.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]