Sharing with Levi

A great deal of my time is devoted to speaking with people about Messiah one-on-one, whether it is discipling believers to live out Yeshua or sharing the Good News with non-believers. Often it is through their believing friends that I get introduced to curious Jewish people. Believers contact me and we look for an opportunity to get together. It’s in this way that I recently met Levi* at his believing friend’s home.

As we made the introductions, Joel* asked how I came to believe in Messiah. I shared how I came to faith in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) and how much He had blessed my life. During our discussion I said that even nice people need a Savior. Someone had mentioned that Levi was one of the nicest people they knew, though not religious. I explained that even though people may not commit headline-making sins, the problem is that sin, like an iceberg, is mostly below the surface.

And the sin of omission – not doing the righteousness required by God – is more serious than many good people imagine, since no one can be nice enough, loving enough, or righteous enough. I mentioned the parable of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16 as an example. Part of the sin of the rich man was that he didn’t help when he had the opportunity. In reality, we all need Messiah whether for sins of commission or omission.

Levi was intrigued and wanted to discuss it further. So, the two of us met for lunch. He was rather easy to get along with, but he let me know that as a Jewish man he was not interested in becoming a Christian but had every intention for him to remain Jewish. (I said this understanding that Jewish people equate becoming a Christian with becoming a Gentile, or a non-Jew).

He said, “Really? I thought you wanted everyone to believe in this Jesus.” So, I explained how Yeshua does not turn Jewish people into non-Jews.

God vs Evil

Levi said, “Even if that is true, I don’t even know if I believe in God.” To Levi there was just too much evil in the world for there to be a God who is in charge.

So, I said, “let me understand what you’re thinking. Either God is in charge and there would be no evil or misery, or there’s evil and misery proving there is no God. Right?”

“Right.”

I asked whether anyone ever shared with him how a loving, Almighty God could exist with there still being evil in the world. No one had! While the Scriptures teach that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), He still created us in His own image. This in part means that we have free will. With freedom, we are held responsible for our decisions – good or bad. However, God’s grace and blessings are available in Messiah, as He has not only given us freedom but also provided the atonement for our bad choices.

He didn’t say anything for about a minute. “I’ll have to think about that.”

He accepted a copy of The Messianic Answer Book. We agreed to meet together after he read it. He said, “That won’t be long, because I’ll read it pretty fast.”

Levi has since come to our congregational services where I have shared further with him. Please pray for Levi and many others that we meet, people who need to hear the Good News in a way that makes sense. 

(*Names changed to protect the individuals’ Privacy)