Tuesday, September 27th, 2022
I visited with Marlin yesterday at the county jail where I am a volunteer chaplain. He has lived a dangerous life with drugs, stealing, violence, and serving seven sentences in prison. He is presently serving a short sentence in my jail for a minor parole violation. For the past two years, he has immersed himself in the Bible and become a first-rate Bible scholar who knows the Word like no one else I’ve ever visited in any jail or rehab facility in Minnesota. It’s not that he hadn’t read the Bible extensively before (he was raised in a Christian family who revered Scripture) but never to the extent that he is now. He is seeking God with all his heart and all his soul and all his spirit.
I asked him a simple question yesterday after we had discussed the dangers he fell into through the world, his self-centered self, and the devil. “Where is the safest place on earth, Marlin?” I asked.
He didn’t blink. “In the arms of Jesus,” he answered with a smile. “I know that now like I never have before.”
I’m looking forward to meeting with Marlin every Monday until he gets out of jail at the end of this year. He has indeed found the safest place on earth.