The Second Boy
At the beginning of 8th grade two boys met and became friends. They became best friends. One was “born again.” The other knew who Jesus was…but not really.
The first boy came from a home with a Christian mother and an alcoholic father. The second boy came from a very moral home.
The first boy wanted to be an Air Force pilot. He read and studied about the U.S. Air Force Academy and had plans to write his state representative for a recommendation to the academy. As a result of his intense interest in being a pilot the second boy, who wanted to be a forest ranger, changed his mind and became interested in joining the Air Force. They practiced physical fitness and obstacle courses together and discussed becoming Air Force pilots.
Then the first boy invited the second to Sunday school. The second boy’s parents permitted him to go.
In Sunday school classes the two boys always sat together. As weeks went by there were lessons about the sermon on the mount, miracles performed by Jesus, and a guy named Saul who killed Christians then became one.
There was talk of sin, death, resurrection, an empty tomb, crosses, and a hill called Golgotha. As weeks became months the second boy unknowingly collected pieces of a Jesus “puzzle” in his mind. But the picture was incomplete.
He once saw an artist draw a black painting on a white canvas. The picture seemed like a random series
of black lines, curves, and shapes. He knew the artist had something specific in mind, but he couldn’t understand it. Finally, the artist put down his pallet, stepped back, and looked at his completed work. He turned and looked at the audience…at the boy.
He still couldn’t figure out the painting until the artist turned it right-side up! Then, in a moment the boy understood. It was the obliquely angled portrait of the Savior!
It was now spring and one night the boy was contemplating the stories he’d heard in Sunday school and the discussions that followed. In an instant, the puzzle pieces of the past six months – assembled in his mind but not yet recognizable – were turned right-side up by the divine hand of the Artist who had “painted” them.
The Creator of the first boy had strategically placed him in the second boy’s life to be a witness and guide to the Living Sacrifice. The second boy now understood that Jesus was that sacrifice. The Son of God paid the price for his sins. The only thing remaining was for the second boy to confess what he now understood and could see as clearly as the portrait of the Savior. He was a sinner. Jesus was “the” Savior. All that remained was to confess these things and ask Jesus to forgive him and enter his life.
Alone in his bed, but not really alone, the second boy did. And He did!
I am that second boy – born again in the spring of my 13th year!
– Benny
