By Pastor Naomi Mithcell
Carter County Times
Valentine’s Day on February 14 is a fun time for celebration by showering gifts on those you love and care about. Popular gifts range from flowers to candy, cards, candlelight dinner dates, etc. It is celebrated by people of all ages. There is the human love we have for each other. But there’s God’s love for humans when He demonstrated in love sending His only begotten son Jesus, that we might be saved when we believe on Him.
Valentine Burke was a burglar who had spent 20 years of his life behind bars in St. Louis, Missouri. His reputation was as rough as they came. A life of crime had made him a hardened rogue with nothing to lose. He cursed like it was his second language. One day, as usual, Valentine sat in solitary confinement. Then, someone tossed a newspaper into his cell. Burke picked it up and read the headline: How the jailer at Philippi got caught. Smirking, he settled in to read about another jailer’s bad luck. But as he read, something felt… off. This wasn’t the kind of story he was expecting. It wasn’t a crime report. It was D. L. Moody’s sermon from the night before. “What kind of nonsense is this?” Valentine muttered to himself. “Paul and Silas! A great earthquake! What must I do to be saved?” Burke stared at the newspaper in disbelief. “Are they really printing this kind of stuff?!” he thought. He checked the date. Sure enough, it was that morning’s paper. He cursed and tossed it aside.
But something about it nagged him. Eventually, he picked the paper up again and started reading. Then he read it again. The words wouldn’t leave him alone. Over and over, he went through the sermon. Each time, he felt a conviction that cut straight to his soul. “What’s happening to me?” he thought. “I’ve been a burglar for over 20 years, in and out of jail, and I’ve never felt like this before. What does it even mean to be saved?” He paused, running a hand over his face. “I’ve lived like a stray dog, and I’m sick of it. If this God Moody is talking about is real, then I need to find out for myself, even if it kills me.”
That night, until long past midnight, Valentine wrestled with his past. Every crime, every wasted year, every wrong decision he had ever made flooded his mind. Now, for the first time since he had been a little boy kneeling beside his mother, he prayed. In that moment, he felt the presence of God. He was reminded of what Jesus had done on the cross. Jesus had carried every one of his sins and erased them forever. Right there, in his jail cell, Valentine came to faith in Christ. He spent the rest of the night weeping.
Soon after that night, something unexpected happened. A legal technicality caused his case to fall apart, and he was set free. Read the rest of the story next week. Amen! So be it! (Credit: Bible Enthusiast, IG.)
JOYFUL House of Prayer, 2519 Quicksand Road, (P.O. Box 856), Jackson, Kentucky 41339. Send Comments/Prayer Requests: Pastornaomi4god@gmail.com. FB: JoyfulHoprayer. Services: 10am Sunday and 6:30pm Thursdays. Radio Broadcast: WJSN 97.3 FM & WEKG 81.0 AM Sundays 1-2pm.
