The guy sitting in the jail lobby looked rough. Years of hard living showed on his face. He came to turn himself in on a new charge. I walked over while a deputy explained the arrest warrant to him. I heard him call the guy’s name. It sounded familiar.  “Let me see that warrant,” I said. 

The guy’s birth year was the same as mine. “Where did you go to elementary school?” I asked. He looked surprised for a minute and said. “Verner. I went to Verner Elementary.“ “So did I,” I said, “I remember you.” 

We shared a minute, talking about old classmates. Many of those we grew up with are now deceased. Drugs took several of them. Now, Tony was coming to jail on a drug charge himself. I went home later and found our third-grade class photo. There was 9-year-old me and Tony, sitting next to each other. That was 53 years ago. A lot can happen in 53 years. 

Why is it that “one day” always arrives sooner than we expect? I blinked, and the future showed up. Tony and I arrived in the year 2025 following very different trajectories. They crossed briefly in 1972, then again last week. Tony’s path led to jail. It’s only by God’s grace that I took a different route.

Thankfully, God still offers hope to guys like me and Tony. I wish I could go back and change some of the decisions that got me here. I’m sure Tony does too. God doesn’t allow do-overs, but He does offer a new start. I can’t change my past choices, but He will forgive them. That may seem too good to be true. Yes, it is good. But it’s also true. 

Here is the good news according to Jesus: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)