"Late Altar"

He stumbled from the bar that night,

A bottle in his hand,

Cranked his truck far from the light,

He still could hear the band.

He drove it slowly out of town,

And down a country road,

All within him low and down,

Beneath a heavy load.

The lights shown from the church house there,

The meeting had gone late,

He pulled right in without a care,

It almost seemed like fate.

The altar call was going on,

The people cried and prayed,

The choir sang a gospel song,

‘Bout how the Savior made,

The substitute upon the cross,

For all our sins and pain,

The cowboy thought of all he’d lost,

And how deep was the stain,

Of all he’d done and left undone,

His life a giant mess,

The Spirit came and said, old son,

I’ll heal all your distress.

And there as others gathered ‘round,

They laid on him their hands,

And then he thought he heard the sound,

Of a singing angel band.

He gave it all to Jesus then,

The peace rolled in like waves,

Lifted off the weight of sin,

He called and Jesus saves.

Baptized int he river cold,

And baptized by the Spirit,

Just like with God’s men of old,

No doubt that they could hear it.

And all this happened long ago,

That cowboy now you’ll see,

Praising God His love to show,

With all his family.

So when somebody stumbles by,

And we just write ‘em off,

God still hears a sinner’s cry,

Can make their hard heart soft.

They might just be the next to come,

And find the altar late,

Pray God they’ll be the very one,

To seek the narrow gate.

“Foe everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:32, NLT).

This verse has great power and offers wonderful hope. No matter what we’ve done or how far we’ve wandered, if we call on His name He will save us. What a promise! This means that He’s always there, always close, and always listening. And if we are sincere when we turn to Him He will always forgive us and make us right. He is closer than the air we breathe and is ever-present help. But only if we call…What does this mean exactly? It means that we turn in faith to Jesus, trusting in His sacrificial death and resurrection. It also means we surrender ourselves to Him and allow Him to become the Lord of our lives. Make the call.

Lord, we call on You for everything we need, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mark Maggiori, used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.