Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Mark 15:39, “So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God.'” 

Background

He died more than fifty years ago. Some might say that they remember where they were when he passed, but probably only his closest friends and relatives who survive today can be precise about that sort of thing. He certainly made an impression on a myriad of people, and still today is influencing millions who never met him. His mind was unique, and his mastery and use of the English language convinced and persuaded countless people to believe as he did. And one of the things he believed in was God. But he did not always believe so. As he recounts, one day as a young man taking a train ride, he embarked on his journey believing there was no God, and when he reached his destination, he believed that there was. And that was that. No fanfare, no bright lights or wailing and weeping. He had considered the reality for some time, and it was at this point that his mind accepted the truth of God. It was unexpected and not overwhelmingly perceptible. He at first didn’t believe, and then, he did. 

Application

Now it was some time later that CS Lewis actually became a Christian. His conversion from Atheism to Deism was just the first step along the path of his journey to becoming a follower of Jesus. And even his step of faith to become a child of God was underwhelming. “I knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” But as he embraced the God of his faith, God certainly embraced him. His writings on Christianity, whether through the metaphor of the Chronicles of Narnia , or his books on faith, love, suffering, and miracles, have endured a half century and more. And while there is still angst and suspicion and uncertainty surrounding a certain US president who died that same day in 1963, there is only peace and assurance surrounding the faithful one who succumbed to kidney failure that Friday. His faith was his life, and the only knoll that affected him was the one where Jesus conquered death. 

Charge

As we seek Him today, let your faith be the impression that you leave behind as you go through your day. Let the world take its shots, but don’t let it have an impact. 

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words