The story is told about a young child who prayed to ask Jesus to come and live in his heart during Sunday School. When he saw his mother, he proudly told her, “Mama, I asked Jesus to come and live in my heart today and take my skin away.”

His mother chuckled but later realized that her young child was serious. Several days later, he confided his concern to her. “I’ve been waiting, Mama, and I still have my skin.”

You can’t help but smile. But the illustration points to the child-like faith that Jesus suggests we need to possess to come to a saving knowledge of him.

I distinctly remember my own doubt as I weighed my decision to accept Christ. I was not a child, and just like any other adult, I could find any number of reasons to question whether a simple prayer would bring an end to my march to hell. I told my wife, who was my girl friend at the time, “It can’t be that easy.”

Her reply was ultimately what convinced me to take the childlike step in faith and ask Jesus to come and live in my heart. “What have you go lose if you’re wrong? You will have lived a better life for it.”

We are commissioned to take the Gospel story to the rest of the world. In doing so, it’s important to remember that adults will often dismiss salvation as too simple. Sin has so complicated their lives that even under conviction they find it very difficult believing their lives can become free of sin by a simple prayer.

Actually, it is not the prayer that saves them. It is the faith behind it. And the decision to use just a mustard-seed dose of faith with that prayer is the most difficult decision they will ever make. Why? Because it seems childish to believe it will work.

It is also very difficult for people to associate sin with who they are. Most adults believe themselves to be nice people, and to most of them, nice is the only criteria necessary to get into heaven. Sin to them is simply things they did that were wrong. It should not define who they are.

The Bible, however, has an altogether different view of sin. The Old Testament verse that comes to mind can be found in Isaiah. “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6) Isaiah’s point is we are born to sin. In other words, “nice” doesn’t get you into heaven. Unless and until the sinner views sin as something he can never personally overcome, he will never see the need for a savior.

This truth was also stressed by Jesus in a very direct exchange with the Pharisees. “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” Then some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words, and said to him, “Are we blind also?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.” (John 9:39-41)

Long story short, sin is a killer. Long-time Southern Baptist pastor, Adrian Rogers, put it this way: “It’s not the amount of sin. It’s the fact of sin that damns us.”

There were times when the Apostle Paul must have looked at himself in the mirror and wondered what in the world had happened to him. He knew that salvation from the inside is much more difficult to understand than it is from the outside. When Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth that “old things have passed away” and “all things have become new,” he had come full circle in the realization that he was no longer the man he once knew himself to be. That’s why he once urged us to move beyond our past, “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” (Philippians 3:13)

Paul also understood that our spiritual walk is a journey, one that is fraught with disappointment and failure as much as it is with success and victory. The truth is it doesn’t matter how long we have been saved, we will always have those days when we come home and wish we could take back something we said or did.

There is a wonderful passage in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome that has always been a source of comfort to me, especially when I have had one of those days when I didn’t feel that I acted or very much resembled the Christian I claim to be. In fact, I believe Paul had one of those days when he sat down and wrote, “It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin.” (Romans 7:21-25, TLB)

The comfort I get from that passage is not just in what the Apostle Paul said; it’s also in the fact that he wrote it twenty-four years after he was saved. In other words, while we all mature as Christians, all of us will inevitably stumble along the way, saying and doing things that are not consistent with the new life we claim to have.

As Christians, we must remember that we will never measure up to God’s standards, at least not every day. That is exactly why Christ was given to us, as a propitiation for our sins. In other words, salvation is not just about forgiving sin in our lives. That’s only one side of the coin. It’s God’s mercy and grace that convinces us to get back up the next day and try to live it differently.

Many of us are seeking more balance in our lives, so much so that it is one of our most popular resolutions for the New Year. Our yearning for more peace in our lives doesn’t surprise me because we live in our world where peace is yearned everywhere.

A college professor of mine who told our freshman health class to be sure we had eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work, and eight hours of leisure. “Life must have balance,” he taught. I don’t agree with his formula, but I do agree that life must have balance, and that balancing act must begin by putting our relationship with the Lord first.

The Bible agrees. In fact, Jesus once told Martha, the sister of Mary and Lazarus that she needed to rethink her priorities. It seems Martha was a little upset with Mary because she dropped what she was doing to sit at the feet of Jesus. Martha, however, continued with the housework until she had enough. “Lord,” she said, “don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Luke 10:40)

But Jesus told Martha that it was Mary who had made the right choice by putting the Lord first in her life. “You are worried and upset about many things,” He told her, “but only one thing is needed.” (Luke 10:41-42)

Well Martha apparently heeded Jesus’ advice because when He arrived to call Lazarus from the grave, it was Mary who stayed in the house and Martha who went out to greet Him. Even though Lazarus had been dead for four days, Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” (John 11:21)

You probably never realized that it was Martha to whom Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus even asked her, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Her reply confirms just how much Martha’s priorities had changed: Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” (John 11:27)

It’s not hard in today’s world to become a little confused about our priorities. Think about it. We’re always trying to steal a moment here and there, or squeeze little more out of life. Yet when our backs get up against the wall, it’s then that we somehow find the time to look up and ask the Lord for help, finally realizing that Jesus was right all along: “Only one thing is needed.”

We try to make life so complicated when the simple truth is once we put God first in our lives, everything else will fall into place. That doesn’t mean that life will be a bed of roses, but it does mean that God will be there to help us bring order out of chaos. Proverbs 3:6 says it this way: “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was a cold January day, 51 years ago. And while I was only in the second grade, I knew a lot more about what was going on than they thought I did.

As I looked across the school playground, I saw one of my mama’s best friends talking to my teacher. I just stood there, frozen in my steps. Even though they were out of earshot, I knew exactly what they talking about. She was telling her that my mama had just died.

How did I know? That’s easy. You see it was only a couple of days earlier that I heard her tell my dad how scared she was about being put to sleep. “I just know I going to die on that operating table,” I heard her tell him. They didn’t know I was eavesdropping.

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I remember feeling sort of relief when I realized she had died. I had broken one of her favorite vases while she was in the hospital and was told, “You just wait ‘til your mother gets home. She’s going to tan your hide.”

I knew they were right about that. In fact, when my family went to visit her in the hospital the night before her surgery, I refused to go. I wasn’t about to get within a city block of her. “Uh-Uh,” I told my dad, “She’ll wear me out”.

I wish my dad had made me go. It’s one of my greatest regrets. I didn’t know that I would never see her again. What a way to end a relationship!

I can’t tell you how many times I asked God, “Why”? Her death radically changed my childhood. I remember how much it hurt I was when I saw my friends give their moms a hug. And I remember how embarrassed I was every Mother’s Day when I was the only boy at church with a white carnation on his lapel. (All the other kids at the time wore red carnations for their LIVING mothers.)

God works in strange ways because my mama had a lot to do with my salvation, even though salvation wouldn’t come my way for another 31 years. As a very young child, I remember being dragged by the hand as we hurried off to a revival to see the likes of Billy Graham or Oliver B. Greene. She loved those old-fashioned crusades under the big tent.

I’ll tell you something else my mama loved. She loved dressing my little sister and me up for church. That white shirt wasn’t so white by the time I got home. And I didn’t have so much as a clue as to where my bowtie went while I was at chruch. But you should have seen us when we hit the front porch on those Sunday mornings. We were dressed to kill.

My mama was first one who taught me to respect God’s Word, even if it would take over 31 years before I would be able to understand what it said. “Every time you drop your Bible,” she said, “pick it up and kiss it. It’s a precious book.” Boy was she ever right about that.

Christ gave me peace about my mother’s death. I’m just sorry it took 31years to get it. But I realize now that my mother wasn’t a mean woman who found pleasure in spanking me. She was just doing the same thing that any other mother of her day would have done with a mischievous child: Applying the Board of Education to Seat of Knowledge. Both of my adult children remember me saying the same thing when I disciplined them as children!

I didn’t know my mother for very long, but I’ll know the Lord forever because of the seeds that she planted early in my life. And you know what? I’m going to get to see her again when I get to heaven. You’ll recognize me when you get there. I’ll be sitting in her lap, catching up on old times.

Now that Christmas is over, our thoughts quickly turn to the year ahead. The truth is January can be one of the most depressing months of the year. Credit card bills come in from all that Christmas overspending, and winter, if not already here, is rapidly approaching, which means that we have very few days over the next couple of months that will permit us to pursue all those outdoor activities that we enjoy.

Winter doesn’t have to be a dark, dreary time in our lives. In fact, the Apostle Paul in one of the last letters he ever wrote laid out some pretty good advice to his close friend, Timothy – advice that we should take, too.

Paul was in prison in Rome and he knew that the sands of time were running out on his life. Think about it. What would you say to a close friend with your last words? Any of us in similar circumstances would likely reserve what precious time we had left to deal with the most important priorities in our life.

It was no different with Paul. Paul’s final words to Timothy are found at 2 Timothy 4:9-21. Clearly, Paul knew he might not survive beyond winter, so he urged Timothy to come immediately. He asked for three things: His coat that he left in another city, his parchments (the equivalent to today’s Bible), and one last opportunity to see Mark, writer of one of the four Gospels, and someone about whom Paul had some regrets.

Interestingly, the opportunity to see Mark was number one on Paul’s list of final requests. It was very important to Paul because he once misjudged Mark’s worthiness to carry the Gospel message. We really don’t know why. Many think Mark may have become homesick while with Paul and Barnabas on a trip to Turkey. At any rate, the Bible records that Mark, “departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.” (Acts 13:13)

Paul was on fire to spread the Gospel Message and obviously could not understand how Mark could abandon the call to serve the Lord. Paul’s inability to understand the reason for Mark’s hasty departure not only strained his relationship with Mark but also with Barnabas, Mark’s uncle and Paul’s companion on his first missionary trip. Barnabas left Paul over the rift while on their second missionary trip.

The Bible tells us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Such was the case with Paul and Barnabas. The Lord used this rift between these two great servants to double the ministry. Barnabas took Mark and headed for Cyprus while Paul teamed with Silas, who accompanied him through Syria and Cilicia. (Acts 15:39-40)

I don’t think Paul ever offered the apology to Mark that Mark was owed. That’s why I think it was one of the last things he wanted to do before he left this world. Regardless of what may have caused the rift between Paul and Mark, Paul knew he had rushed to judgment, which is why he said of Mark to Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:11)

Winter is rapidly approaching here, too. We may not be in the last days of our lives, but many of us have broken relationships created by premature judgments, words we wish we could take back, actions we should not have taken.

Winter doesn’t have to be filled with dark days. Make a call to the “Mark” in your life. Set up a visit, swallow your pride, and apologize for what you said or did. 2012 could become a very special year for the two of you.