Been a busy but productive season recently. Seems all I have time to blog at the moment is obituaries. Here’s another petrolhead who’s finished his final race. Evel Knievel – the legendary leaper himself – passed away yesterday after several years of a debilitating lung disease.
The really interesting thing is that only this week I was doing a google on all things related to baptism and came across his name. It seems earlier this year he received Jesus as his saviour, gave his testimony and was baptized at the Crystal Cathedral. Following his testimony, the pastor said that he felt there was someone else in the congregation who needed to be baptized that day, and somewhere between 500 and 800 people ended up responding.
Now I know pretty much nothing about the Crystal Cathedral (except to say ‘only in California!) and I’m sure you’ll always find nay-sayers and people who’ll question whether this is true repentance and baptism, whether those decisions will really stick etc, etc. At the end of the day I think most of us know people who’ve responded without going on to live the life – and ultimately that’s between them and God. Regardless, you can’t deny though, whatever Evel’s life may have looked like up to that point, God ultimately used him for something pretty powerful.
You can read more here, and also watch his testimony -it’s pretty inspiring stuff. It’s also pretty incredible that this guy was on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day and is very obviously struggling for breath when he starts, but he gets stronger and stronger as he gets more and more passionate in talking about Jesus.
Evel Knievel ultimately puts his decision to follow Jesus down to the prayers of family, friends, and whole churches who’d been praying for him for 30 or 40 years. Speaking personally that’s an encouragement to me. There are people I desire to see make the same decision. However, rather than worry about stuff I can’t do I need to focus on the things I can do for them. And the first of those is most definitely pray.
We don’t always know the answers, and we can’t alway fathom God’s purposes or understand his ways. Why does it take so long for some, and happen so quickly for others? I think that Evel’s Knievel’s life ultimately shows that God is at work. Even though it may sometimes take time – he is fully capable of leading people to repentance, and he also works out his plans so that ‘all may see and glorify the Father in heaven’.
None of us knows when our time will be, when when the time comes, here’s what I want to be able to say…
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. – 2 Timothy 4:6-8
