Saturday, December 29th, 2018
I met with Crystal on Thursday at the Wright County Jail. I’ve written about her before as one of the inmates I visit as a chaplain, and about how she has learned more about who Jesus is, why He came to earth, and what her relationship to Him should be than would ever be possible in the natural world. That’s especially true for her because she has cognitive functioning issues caused by a long history of drug abuse. It took her most of a day to memorize John 3:16.
Yet, Crystal has been transformed by her reading of the Bible. Some time back I had given her my usual assignment: read chapters 1, 14, 15, and 16 in the gospel of John over and over again and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you how your life relates to Jesus Christ.
I had not taught her anything about John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” I had not even pointed out that verse as an important one. I didn’t think she was quite ready for the depth of it. She came into the meeting room with tears in her eyes. Christmas is not a joyful season for people residing in a jail. She cried because she had not been able to see her children (if you’ll remember, they were taken from her).
Then she started talking about the impact Jesus had made in her life and became happy and joyful. As she was talking about this and that (I don’t remember what), she suddenly said, “Pat, when I read about the vine and the branches, the whole Bible came alive for me.” Now who informed her that was such an important verse? Hint – think of the initials H.S.