If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
(Romans 5.17
NRSV)
A couple in a local church, Tom and Claudia, wanted to help a needy family. Through a social agency they were given Linda's name. At the time they met Linda she had two young children with a third on the way. Her husband, an addict, had deserted her. She had no place to live.
Tom and Claudia quickly realized that they could not help Linda and her children all by themselves. They enlisted the help of other couples in their Sunday School class and church. They helped Linda and her children find a place to live. They helped her find a job. Tom and Claudia kept the two children for a week while the third was being born. Other people in the church took turns caring for the children, providing food and clothing. They supported and helped Linda in many ways.
One Sunday morning a year or so later, Linda stood up in church one to give her witness. She told the congregation that she had been sober for six months. She now had a job and was able to be a responsible mother to her children. She was no longer worried about living on the streets, spending time in jail, or having her children taken away from her. Linda not only used words like confused, homeless, lost, and dead, but as a result of her new life she used words like joy, love, direction, coming home, life, and saved by Jesus Christ.
Linda and her children now attend worship almost every Sunday. They sit in the third pew. Tom and Claudia and other members of her Sunday School class sit nearby. After worship Linda teaches a three-year-old Sunday School class. She is there every Sunday and the children love her. "If you know anyone who doubts that Jesus is alive," Linda says, "let them talk to me."
Lord Jesus, find me and don’t let me go. Amen.
