Rosy evening light slanted through the windows of Nahid’s house as we sat down to dinner. Nahid, a student at my English school and now a friend, often invited me over to share meals with her family.
“Followers of Jesus are the best people I have ever met,” Nahid said. “They never slander, they don’t talk bad behind your back, and they don’t meddle in other people’s business.” She took a bite of the roast lamb she had prepared for my visit.
I smiled my thanks. She often complimented me, sharing her high opinion of the Jesus followers she’d met.
“But I don’t understand why you don’t try to earn points from God.” She shook her head. “To me, it seems like a good thing to do. That is how we get on God’s good side.”
“I love and obey Him because He loved me first.”
I sipped my coffee as I considered my answer. “Jesus said the most important things are to love God and love others. But if getting into heaven were to depend on our own efforts, we wouldn’t be free to do those things.” I paused. “I love and obey Him because He loved me first.”
“I suppose so,” Nahid said uncertainly.
“Think of you and your sister in my English class,” I explained.
Nahid laughed. “My sister likes you, but she doesn’t enjoy your class.”
“I know.” I grinned. The two women had committed to taking my class together, but Nahid’s sister couldn’t wait for the term to end. “Still, she works hard to pass the class—not because she loves English, but for the benefit she will receive. If I had told her at the beginning of the course that she would pass no matter what, she wouldn’t have studied at all.”
Nahid nodded. “She would agree with that.”
“If we do good when heaven is guaranteed, that proves the love of God.”
“But, if I’d told you that same thing at the beginning of the class, you still would have studied and worked hard because you love English and want to be better at it.”
“That’s true,” Nahid said.
“Doing good to earn the benefit of heaven proves our love of self. But if we do good when heaven is guaranteed, that proves the love of God. He’s put that love for others into the hearts of people who follow Him.”
Nahid continues to ask questions about my faith. Pray that the Lord will connect the pieces of our frequent conversations in Nahid’s heart and that she will understand that our behavior is not to earn anything from God, but rather because we have received everything from Him.
Pray:
- Pray that Nahid will come to know and love Jesus.
- Ask God to send more field workers to share the Good News about Jesus with the least reached in the Muslim world.
- Pray that Frontiers workers who teach English classes will continue to form meaningful friendships with their students.
Read a Frontiers worker’s story of being adopted into a Muslim family and how God is using her to share the Gospel.
This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.