The following is a piece that was submitted to our church paper by a man who is serving in a prison outreach ministry from the inside. He is serving time for life with no chance of parol, but the Lord has taken control of his life and has done wonderful things. He has found a peace in serving God right where he is. His name is Steve Gerkin and he is at the Minnesota Correctional Facility
I thought this would be an appropriate Easter page. A single mom with two children in hand, makes her way up to a lit porch one spring evening. Hearing a television, she knocks several times on the door but no one answers. So she knocks louder. "Sir? " she cries. "Ma'am? We would like to see Jesus. Is He here? Do you know Him or where He could be found?" Bothered by the intrusion, the couple goes to the door. "What do you want?" they grumbled. Now sobbing emotionally, the young woman moans the word,"Jesus." "Please" she says, "We need to see Him. I saw you walk home from that little church tonight. I followed you hoping that you might help us. We must see Him-the man Jesus, the one I heard you singing about. The one you worhsip in that little church up the street." A similar request was recorded in John 12:21. Some Greeks traveled to Jerusalem to worhship at the feast at wished to see Him. They made their request known to Philip. Although the scripture is silent about the conversation that took place, we are told several interesting things about the following request. The appeal to "see" Jesus was made known to His disciples, who in turn told the Lord. V.21-22 Immediately following in v.23 the Lord reminds them that this is the time for Him to be glorified paradoxically in a humiliating death. Then in vs.24-25 He tells His followers: "I tell you the truth, unless a kernal of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it will remain seedless. But if it dies, it will produce many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in the wolrd will gain eternal life." We know that Jesus was speaking of Himself-one day dying that many should live. But He was also telling those who would serve Him vs.26 to follow after Him. He is telling us that if we are going to follow Him, we must let go of our lives-our own selfish ambitions and desires.See Phil. 2:3 As ambassadors of Christ, God is making His appeal to a lost and dying world through us. Have we let the kernals of selfishness fall? Or do we turn away those who would see Jesus? Are we serving Jesus by following His example in our lives-and reflecting Him. Or are we serving and following and reflecting SELF?
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