What I remember most about her room was the smell — a strange mixture of incense, smoke, and alcohol.
I rarely went into my sister’s bedroom, but one day in 1972 I was compelled to do so.
I had recently made a profession of faith in Jesus. As a high school freshman, I had heard the gospel by attending a Baptist church with a good friend. I had been reading the Bible and was learning much about Christianity.
Meanwhile, my sister, two years older, was spending time with a different crowd. Substance abuse was the activity of choice for her and her friends. Drugs and alcohol had become her constant companion. And I could see the effect this was having on her. She was seldom sober.
I had to do something. So I picked up a Bible and knocked on her door. She told me to come in. As I sat down on the couch directly across from her bed, I looked at her and could see the dazed look in her eyes. She was, as we said back then, stoned.
I asked her: “Is this the kind of life you want to live?”
I don’t remember what she might have said in response. Probably nothing. But I knew she could hear me. Even people in a coma can hear you. It didn’t matter what state she was in. All I knew was that the Book in my hand contained the message that could liberate her from this prison she was in. She was a slave who needed to be set free.
I opened my Bible and turned to John chapter 3. I read the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. I read John 3:16 to her. And then I said, “You need a new life. You need to be born again.”
Then I gave her the Bible and left. I don’t know how long I was there. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes max.
Do you believe in the power of the gospel? Do you believe that God can save anyone, no matter what they’ve done or what condition they are in? No matter how depressed or how drunk or how angry or how depressed or how violent?
I do. I believe God can save anybody, anytime, anywhere. Only one thing is needed: the Word of God must be present. The message of the gospel must be communicated in some way, shape or form, and then the Holy Spirit can take over and come into a person’s heart and change them from the inside out, granting the gift of repentance and saving faith, and in the process of doing that, He forgives all their sin and sets them free from both the penalty and power of sin.
I believe that God can save anybody because the Bible says so.
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron” (Psalm 107:14-16).
I believe that God can save anybody because He saved me. Watching my sister’s life deteriorate before my eyes was enough negative reinforcement for me to stay away from alcohol and drugs. But I am just as much a sinner as my sister. I needed forgiveness of sins just as much as she did.
My sister’s conversion experience is, in some ways, more dramatic than mine. But God didn’t liberate her on the day I entered her room and gave her a Bible. A few years later, however, while watching a TV evangelist, she heard the gospel again and suddenly remembered, “That’s what Wayne was trying to tell me.”
Do you ever wonder whether people can be set free from sin by watching television? Yes, God can even save someone while watching TV, because that’s what happened to my sister. While hearing the gospel on television, she committed her life to Christ and started reading the Bible I gave her, which she had kept. It wasn’t easy, but my sister was liberated from a life of substance abuse. Jesus set her free.
In 2006, some 34 years after I shared the gospel with my sister, she sent me a birthday card and wrote these words:
“Wayne, I love you so much. Thank you for planting the seeds of the Word of the gospel, especially John 3:16, back when we were in high school. I can to this day remember the witness you gave me. Your boldness saved me from eternal hell.”
She signed the card, “Your sister who can’t wait to worship our Lord forever.”
I have many memories of my sister. She had a smile that could light up a room. When she laughed, it was contagious, and you couldn’t help but laugh with her.
My sister passed away in 2019. I miss her deeply, more than words can say. Her birthday is March 23, so I just wanted to say, “Happy Birthday, Sheryl! Have a great day with Jesus!”
She couldn’t wait to be with Jesus, to sit at His feet and praise His holy name. That wait is over, for her faith is now sight.
NOTE: The above post is an excerpt from the book, Top 10 Reasons to Read the Bible Today. Available on Amazon. (The Kindle version is free.)
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Beautiful and encouraging story! We plant seeds and we never know the ultimate outcome. We need to just be faithful to plant them. I’m so glad to hear this about your sister and someday you’ll see her again!
Thanks for the feedback, Sharon. “Be faithful” – Amen to that!