"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Rom.3:23-24)
That was Billy Graham's message, plain and simple.
We're all--every single one of us--sinners who need a Savior...and in His abounding grace, God sent us His only beloved Son as our Savior. Jesus took the punishment we deserved for our sins, bore those sins on the cross, and obliterated them by His blood. And in exchange, He gave us His righteousness and the priceless gift of eternal life. For "to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
We got word this morning that Billy Graham, this great and godly man, stepped out of the confines of this world and immediately set foot in the infinitely glorious wonders of Heaven. My first thought was how he was hearing those words he'd surely so longed to hear: "Well done good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your Master." (Mt.25:23)
Thank You, Father, for sending us Jesus. And thank You for sending us Billy Graham.
I'm quite certain there are millions of personal stories like ours about how this one man profoundly impacted their lives. But here's ours: Billy Graham is the reason I'm married to my husband, and he's the reason we have five precious, priceless children. For you see, when my husband, Richard, was in 8th grade, he went to a Billy Graham crusade at Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh.
Here we are, all these years later, and Richard can still recall every detail of that evening. It was a misty, September night, and Graham wore one of those classic grey trench coats. After Graham invited folks to come down to the field to give their lives to Jesus, my husband responded. Down that young 8th grader went and committed his heart to Christ right then and there. And Richard says that from that very moment, God began to radically and wonderfully transform his desires, his habits, and his life. Such is the resurrection power of our Savior.
Richard said that Mr. Graham spoke again and told all those who had just given their lives to Christ that he wished he could sit down and share a meal with every one of them and get to know them personally. That would have to wait, Graham said, but one day, he'd have the enormous pleasure of sharing a meal and joyful fellowship with each of them for a thousand years. I'd guess he's got a lot of folks to visit with, so eternity might just be long enough!
But had there been no Billy Graham, or had he not been faithful to his calling as an evangelist, my husband would not have heard the gospel message that September evening. He might not have become a believer. We surely would not have met. I wouldn't have enjoyed and been influenced to know Christ better by the wisdom and love of my husband. Five priceless souls would not have been born into the Fountain family. And those children would not have been, for instance, Young Life leaders, encouraging and helping lead high school students to love Jesus...or been involved in Athletes in Action and influencing teammates and friends to know the great God of the universe...and on and on.
We never ever know how our one little life--lived faithfully to our Lord day by day--will impact and influence those around us. Perhaps even affecting those we never knew were watching or listening. And we'll never know how then those folks have gone out into the big, wide world and encouraged and influenced others for Christ...and then they do the same...and on and on.
The ripples extend out into eternity.
And for us, it all began with one man sharing one simple message about One beautiful, glorious Savior.
So thank You, Billy Graham, for running your race so faithfully all the way to the finish line. Thank You for fixing your eyes on Jesus and keeping your gaze locked on Him as you shared the message of God's amazing gift of salvation through Christ. Thank You for showing us that it can be done--that we, too, can run our races faithfully all the way till the end....which is really just the beginning.
Might we, too, be encouraged by your example to keep running our race of faith all the way to the finish line and to keep sharing the love of Christ with all those God brings into our paths. And we look forward to sharing that meal with you one day in heaven. Save us a seat!
To God be the glory.
