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I want to tell you a dear testimony of a lady named Mary. She had grown up in a small interior village in Brazil and was a staunch Catholic. She would close up her shop to attend every event or class held at the local Catholic church.

She was invited to a Christian “couples” class and even though she was single, she came. Mary let the missionary know she was Catholic and was assured she would be more than welcome. Over the following weeks, this little lady would bring others to hear the Gospel, even though she hadn’t accepted it for herself.

She began to attend Sunday School and would comment how she loved the fact that the missionaries studied the Word of God and would ask questions … wanting to see what the Bible said and not just taking someone else’s word for it.

Over time, she began to open up and explain that she was receiving persecution from the other members of the Catholic church in the village and began to go to fewer and fewer events there. On one Tuesday night Bible study, there was a change in speakers and the man who filled in spoke plainly and clearly about the difference between religion and having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He slowly explained grace and mercy in the context of salvation. At the end of his study, he drew attention to Romans 10:9-10 and the need to believe and confess the Lord Jesus. After it was over, he answered some questions for Mary and then she left. That was the last time the missionaries saw her alive.

Less than 48 hours later, Mary had a brain aneurysm and went into a coma. The missionaries spoke to a pastor who was at the hospital and he had been told by a niece who witnessed to her tirelessly that Mary had been saved Wednesday night, and couldn’t wait until Sunday when she’d be able to confess Him before the others who would be attending services. Friday morning, she passed away into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The missionaries and some of the Bible study group were able to have a short service before the Catholic service for Mary’s funeral. It saddened the missionaries to see the rituals the Catholics went through. These were the same chants and readings that Mary had been doing all her life before she came to a saving knowledge of the truth. In her last hours, she had renounced these very beliefs and had placed her trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ and received eternal life which she is now enjoying. There were some changes in her life even before being saved:

1. She had a custom of speaking of Mary (Jesus’ mother) as the holiest one and she stopped doing that.

2. She quit praying the rosary.

3. She called a relative to tell her she had believed on Christ for her salvation.

4. Once she went to Sunday School, she never returned to Sunday morning Mass.

Thank the Lord for Mary’s sweet testimony even though she was never able to give it publicly. Please pray for Mary’s family, still so steeped in tradition and needing the same Savior that Mary called upon just before her death.

What about you? Do you trust steps to get you to heaven? Are you hoping religion will be the answer for eternity? The Bible tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It also tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages (payment) of sin is death but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. How do we receive that gift? The Bible tells us in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Romans 10:9,10,13 tells us, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Pray to God for forgiveness of sin and turn from religion or whatever else you are trusting to save you and turn to God and God alone for your salvation! Mary came to the realization that she couldn’t earn her salvation and today she rejoices in the provision of her Lord.

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