Today my mom (who now lives with my wife and I) turned 93! I cannot tell you the number of people who upon learning of her age are quick to remark: “That is truly amazing - she is really defying the odds!” And they are right, she has abosolutely defied the odds by living this long. But, these aren’t the only odds my Mom has defied.
You see, when my Mom was 91 she made a decision to personally place her faith in Jesus Christ as her only Lord and Savior! By all statistical standards this was an even more amazing thing - a greater defiance of the odds. Why? Because statisticians tell that the older we get, the less likely we are to accept Christ. If you think about it, this makes sense. As we age, our tendency is to become more rigid and ingrained in the things that are most familiar to us. Therefore, if we grow up with a particular religious belief system, the older we get, the less likely we are to make a change to this system because this is what we have grown accustomed to. But praise God - my Mom defied the odds. She was willing to reject many of the false religious teachings and rituals that she had grown up with in favor of something that she came to realize to be true. At the age of 91 my Mom began to understand the truth stated so clearly in John 14:6 where Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
You see, this was a major concession for my Mom because, like so many other people, she grew up beleiving in a religious system where she, not Jesus, was the determining factor in her right standing before God. What do I mean? Just this - like many people, Mom lived a system of religion in which she believed that ultimately her salvation would be based upon the quantity and quality of good works that she did throughout her life, and upon the religious duties and rituals which she kept. The problem with such a system is that although it might seem reasonable to us, it’s not something that God supports in His Word (in the Bible)!
The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is a gift offered to us by God Himself, and not something that we can ever acheieve by any level of good works or religious effort. The Bible plainly tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” The Bible also goes on to clearly tells us that the gift of God that can ultimately save us (the only thing that can save us) is Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross (i.e., His death and resurrection)! Speaking specifically of Jesus Christ, John 1:12-13 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
So you see - these Biblical truths were not at all in line with what my Mom grew up believing, but they are the truths which led to her salvation as she defied the statistical odds at the age of 91 by yielding to Christ alone as the only source of her salvation. And she did not do this a moment too soon, because within one year after having made this commitment to Christ, my Mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and as a result she has steadily been declining in her ability to think and reason clearly. Had she waited much longer in her decision to accept Christ, the door might have closed and she would never have come to know Him and be saved.
When I hear people say to me that they are thinking about accepting Christ, but they’re not quite ready yet, I think of my Mom, and in my heart I want to beg them to accept Him now, while they’re still able. Because as time passes, although I know that the odds can be beaten, the odds are still against them. The longer they wait, the less likely they will be to make this change, and the greater the odds that something will happen that will close the door on them before they can ever make this most curucial decision of their lives.
If this you, I leave you with the Divinely inspired words of the Apostle Paul as found in 2 Corinthians 6:1-2: “We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptavle time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Don’t wait a minute longer, because by waiting you might find that it will be too late!
