Chapter
15
The morning
worship service, as they called it, began with the choir coming in from a side door. The director led them in an opening chorus. He then turned around and instructed the
audience to turn to a song in the hymnal entitled Love Lifted Me. Jessica was
fascinated with the words of the song, but she especially liked the part that
said, “When nothing else could help, Love lifted me.” She knew that she needed some help. Her entire family needed help. May be this was what they all needed. There were many interesting things that took
place that morning: a hand-shake chorus
when everyone shook hands with their neighbor, an offering, and a special. Jessica was especially interested in the
special because it was sung by her Sunday school teacher. Jessica thought that she had a beautiful
voice. But she didn’t seem to be what
you would call a show-off. She seemed to take the words seriously that
she was singing. She seemed to be
singing those words right to Jessica.
The pastor
was an older man with gray hair and a kind face. He read a portion out of his Bible and prayed
that God would open everyone’s eyes and ears.
That was just fine for Jessica, because she was all eyes and ears. This was what she had been waiting for. The pastor spoke about God’s love. But he also spoke of God’s holiness and
justice. Jessica knew that God was way
above her. She also knew that she was
not a perfect girl. Oh, she tried to do
the right things, but often she lost her temper with James and a few times she
had cheated at school. Jessica knew what
sin was, but she hoped that God understood that she was doing the best that she
could. But the pastor kept bringing up
the fact that God expected holiness and perfection in order to get into
heaven. He said that there was no way
that anyone could live up to God’s expectations. Jessica agreed and felt hopeless. The pastor went on top say that God sent His
Son, Jesus to pay for our sins. Jesus,
who was perfect, died in our place. He
was our substitute. It was as if Jesus
traded places with us. Jesus took our
sins upon himself on the cross and in exchange, offered us His eternal
life. What a wonderful trade! It all made sense to Jessica. The harder that she worked, the more
frustrated she got. She just couldn’t do
everything right. This plan that God and
Jesus devised was so simple, yet wonderful!
The pastor explained that we accept the exchange of Jesus by faith. Jessica realized that it was like giving in
to Jesus and letting Him do all of the work for us. It would be so wonderful to not have to work
so hard at being good. It would be so
wonderful to accept the goodness of Jesus instead!
But then
the pastor was finished. The song
director was up again with a final song.
Jessica looked over at her mother to see her reaction to the church service. Jessica noticed a tear running down her mother’s
cheek. But Jessica also saw a smile on
her face at the same time! Jessica was
puzzled. She tried to sort out her
thoughts. She tried to understand why her
mother could have tears and joy at
the same time. Jessica felt the burden
of her own guilt, but at the same time, she felt the love of God. She felt the kindness and deep love of Jesus
as He died in her place. Jessica knew
that she was at an important moment in her life. She had an important decision to make. But she needed time to think. She needed to talk to Gloria.
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