LightGrams
May 1, 2025
Volume 29, Number 15
A story from last week helps confirm our belief that there are still good people in this world. The good person in this story was a trooper with the Michigan State Police. He found a bundle of cash in the middle of the road. Instead of slipping it in his pocket, the officer set out to discover who had lost the $5,000. A bank teller told him that the same amount had been withdrawn earlier in the day and gave him the name and number of the customer.
So why did this customer hang up on the state trooper several times? Despite being told that his lost money was found and waiting to be returned, the man refused to believe it was true. As a post on the Michigan State Police social media stated, “The subject must have been listening to our public service announcements on being a victim of fraud and believed he was being scammed.”
Eventually the man listened to the trooper and arranged to meet with him. His cash was returned and the man whose bundle of money was found on the road went on his way a happy man.
Can you imagine someone offering to return to you something of great value, but you don’t believe it to be a genuine offer? Truth be told, it happens every day and has been for hundreds of years.
Jesus reached out to all people when He spoke these words in Matthew 16:26: “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” According to that verse, each of us is in danger of losing our souls, and those souls are of greater value than any material possession we might have.
Maybe you were thinking earlier that $5,000 is an enormous loss. It definitely is that, for most of us can’t easily replace an amount like that. But our soul? We are given only one soul when we enter life, and if that soul is lost, it will be lost for eternity.
Does our situation have a good ending like the one in Michigan? It can. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost,” Jesus declared in Luke 19:10. He said that after visiting with Zacchaeus, a man that many considered to be beyond recovery. No one, however, is beyond recovery when Jesus offers to save their soul.
Can people hang up on Jesus? There’s nothing that says Jesus uses a telephone to offer His services, but He does knock on our doors. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). The door upon which Jesus knocks is the door to your heart.
Perhaps you feel that knocking right now. Who’s there? It’s Jesus trying to return the eternal soul that is in danger of being lost. Let Him in; Jesus will never scam you. You can trust Him.
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
~~~~~
Copyright, 2025, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “[email protected]” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
Permission to reproduce and/or use the messages for noncommercial purposes is freely granted provided the messages are not altered.