Does Jesus Pray for YOU?

Posted by Jennifer Baldwin

Friday, September 24, 2010

Been wondering, “How am I going to feel if I turn 71 years old?” Now, I don’t mean, “Will I have lots of aches and pains?” Or, “Will I be totally consumed with telling anyone in ear-shot about my latest doctor visit or surgical repair or… ?” No, what I mean is, “How will I feel if I celebrate my 71st birthday and come to the realization that the wager I made 20 years earlier, I lost?”

Too many are taking incredibly unnecessary risks. They are “rolling the dice”, betting it all without seemingly any sort of serious contemplation regarding the cost of being wrong. This came to me in one of those unplanned “incidental’” moments this past week. I arrived a few minutes early for an appointment at the coffee shop (bet you would have never guessed THAT location! and ran into a friend from some years back.

We caught up on the passing of time and the advancement of various family members. And, he told me that his wife was spending time with her father who was in failing health, probably not having all that long yet to live. “Has your father-in-law yet come to faith in Christ?” I asked. “No,” he replied. “And the shocking thing is he has no fear regarding dying! When we ask him if he has any concern about what will await him after the grave, he says he literally never even thinks about it!”

Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. John 17:7-8

“They have come to know…and truly understood…” Trusting Jesus the Christ for eternal salvation is not a leap into the dark. It is not to be an act of blind faith. Believing in and on Jesus is a life and death decision. It calls for careful, thoughtful examination. After all, you are betting your whole eternal destiny on it. And eternity is a long, long time to be wrong!


Ten years ago I did a typical “American’” thing. I laid wager with an insurance provider. After extended investigation and serious contemplation, I was willing to bet them, to the tune of some $800 per year, that I would die before I turned 70. They were willing to bet me $250,000 that I would NOT die by then. Life insurance, if you think about it, is a very weird kind of scam. It seduces us into betting against ourselves!

If I blow out my 70 plus candles a decade from now, I think I will be grateful for additional years to live, disappointed that I am not yet at “home”, probably spend some time multiplying the years I paid the 800 plus dollars to no obvious end, and then get on with investing, with wisdom, through the years that will yet remain.

But in reality, $16,000 plus interest is not too much risk even if I am wrong. However, betting my eternal destiny on my conviction that I am right? Now that is another thing altogether. Such a “wager” calls for serious examination. For, eternity is a long, long time to be wrong!