Point of No Return Read Online Free PDF Page B

enough to go there. So God had to do something even more radical than just walk around in our world. He had to come up with a way to get us imperfect people into His perfect world. And the only way to do that was to die for you and me and all our imperfections—our sins —and He did it in the most painful way possible: on a cross. He did it because we couldn’t do it for ourselves. I can’t do enough or be good enough. You can’t, either. No matter what you try to do to make yourself better, it won’t be good enough. Do you understand? He had to do it —and He did it for you. ”
    Those words hung in the air, and for a moment Jimmy felt as though it were just him and Dave in the room. He had to do it, and He did it for me , Jimmy thought.
    â€œBut dying wasn’t enough,” Dave continued. “Anybody can die and be put in a grave to rot. Nothing special about that. But Jesus died and then came out of the grave. Death couldn’t hold Him down. He rose up so that we could rise up, too. And when we rise up, we rise to that other place, the place where God lives. And we’ll live with Him. But until then….”
    Dave shoved his hands into his pockets and moved away from the podium. He walked into the crowd of kids sitting on chairs and on the floor and spoke as if to each one. “What’s the catch? you’re wondering. He did all that for me, but what’s He want in return? Well, I’ll tell you….”
    Jimmy held on to his chair. Dave was now in the middle of the crowd.
    â€œHe wants your life ,” Dave said in a harsh whisper. “He wants every bit of you: your heart, your mind, your body, your soul. And He doesn’t want it so He can lock it away somewhere and make you a miserable, boring religious person from now on. He wants it so He can work on it, turn it into something new…and then give it back to you in better shape than it was before.”
    Dave turned and scanned the crowd before he spoke again.
    â€œMaybe you think you’re too young; this is stuff for grown-ups. It isn’t. Even if dying is years and years away for you, the decision to believe in Jesus, to accept Him into your hearts and give Him your lives, begins right now. ” Dave looked Jimmy square in the eyes. “Jesus wants you right now. ”

CHAPTER SIX
    Late Saturday Night
    J IMMY WAS SURPRISED by how he felt as the meeting ended. Somehow it had never struck him that Jesus might actually want him or that Jesus died for him. Yeah, he’d heard those things in Sunday school and church. But for some reason it hadn’t hit him until now that Jesus’ death and resurrection demanded that he do something in return. Until now, Jesus was always something he could pick or not pick—like an answer on a multiple-choice test. But there He was…wanting Jimmy right now.
    Jimmy thought about it as Dave and Jacob gave him a lift home. Jimmy hoped Dave wouldn’t say anything to him or ask him any questions. He was afraid an additional word or question might spoil the whole thing. Maybe they sensed it, too, because neither of them spoke. They drove in silence except for an exchange of “Good night” when Jimmy got out of the car and walked to his front door.
    He died for me…. He wants me…. He wants every bit of me. My heart, my mind, my body, my soul. And He doesn’t want it so He can lock it away somewhere and make me a miserable, boring religious person from now on. He wants it so He can work on it, turn it into something new…and then give it back to me in better shape than it was before.
    Jimmy drifted past the living room. His mom called out from her reading chair. Jimmy peeked in.
    â€œHow was it?” she asked.
    Jimmy shrugged and said, “Okay, I guess.”
    â€œNot as bad as you thought?”
    â€œI guess not,” he answered. “A bunch of kids I know were there. We played some games and stuff.