GET HIGH ON LIFE: FALLING FROM GRACE DEADLY

Four years ago, as I entered the Holiday Inn in Alexandria, I was greeted
by a young man who asked if I remembered him. He reminded me that it was
about two years ago since we met at a treatment center. He beamed as he
told me that he had been drug-free since that time, married, had a son and
was working steadily.

I have shared that story many times, stressing that the greatest miracle is
a changed life. Nothing is more satisfying to me than meeting someone that
I ministered to who has completely changed his or her life.

If that were the end of the story, it would be a successful experience.
However, as Paul Harvey would say, let me tell you the rest of the story.

Last week, while speaking at a drug treatment center that I visit
regularly, I met the same young man. Two years have passed since our
meeting in Alexandria. I noticed that he had a walking cane next to his chair.

"Is that for show, or do you really need it?" I asked. He pulled up his
pants over his right leg and showed me a large scar on his knee. "I got
shot in a drug deal that went bad," he said. He was embarrassed as he spoke
and guilt had robbed him of the glow he had that day in Alexandria.

Trying to justify the fact that he was back on drugs, he added, "I did stay
clean for four years!"

I have to admit that I was disappointed to see a young man that had enjoyed
the good life and served God, go back to his old ways. I told him that if
the person who shot him had aimed three feet higher and a few inches to the
right, he would have been dead with a bullet through his heart.

"God must have spared you for something special," I tried to encourage him.
He responded in a positive manner to my remarks.

I told him, "For four years, you enjoyed the good life, pleasing God, and
being a godly husband and father. You then decided to give in to the
temptation of your drug friends. You've had the benefit of both worlds."

I explained to him what the Bible says in 2 Peter 2:20-22. It states that
after a person escapes the pollution of the world through the knowlege of
Jesus and returns to his sinful life, it would have been better for that
person not to have known the righteous way, because when he returns to his
old lifestyle, it is always worse than before. In fact, it says that it's
like a dog that returns to his vomit, or a clean pig wallowing in the slop.

The challenge to you now is making a decision as to which you will serve -
the God of your creation, or the evils of the world.