The Bottom of the Barrel

Long years ago just before leaving home for college, there came a moment which gave direction to the rest of my life.  The Apostle Paul spoke of such a moment when he wrote to the Roman Christians that he was "called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God."  (Romans 1:1)  While there is little about my life which can be compared to this spiritual giant, we do share a common experience of having a life changing moment with Christ.  Hopefully, such is true of every person who dares to stand in the pulpit and preach the gospel.     

I remember the night well.  It is not the kind of thing that can be forgotten.  Kneeling beside my bed I did what a million sinners in need of grace have done.  I confessed my sins, asked for forgiveness, and asked Jesus to take control of my life.  It was a moment filled with tears of sorrow and then tears of joy.  However, before the tears were dry, there came an additional, unwanted, frightening word.  As I knelt there it came clearly to me that following Christ meant accepting the reality that His will was to set me apart for preaching the Word.    

I wanted no part of it.  I grew up in a Methodist parsonage and had seen the ministry from a side not seen by most.  Preachers had to put up with a lot of stuff and I wanted nothing to do with it.  So, I said "Yes" to Jesus and "No" to His call to preach.  I actually told no one what had happened there beside my bed because I did not want to deal with the preaching thing.  It was the last thing I wanted to do with my life.  Unlike the Apostle Paul who got it all handled in short time there in Damascus, it would take me another six months to come around to saying "Yes" to the second part of what was going on that night in the parsonage.  Since the final "Yes" there has never been any doubt that the call was real and spoke of God's purpose for my life.  The only puzzling thing is why He called me in the first place.  He was surely scraping the bottom of the barrel.