Almost exactly a year ago, I had the privilege of giving a young man a Bible with his name imprinted on the cover. It was a gift from our church to him and some other young men who had just graduated an after-school academy.

This particular individual held the Bible in both hands and stared at it.

“Is this mine?” he asked me.

“Yes, sir, it is,” I answered with a smile.

“I’ve never had a Bible before,” he said. Then he told me how he’d never read the Bible before, either. That day was the first day. He’d seen one in another room of the building where the graduation took place, picked it up, and read a little bit from it.

“Well, now you have one that is yours,” I said. “It has your name on it. Let it remind you that you are special and important to God.” 

He nodded, and gave me one of the most genuine “thank yous” I’ve ever heard.

I have remembered his name (something I find challenging), have prayed for him and asked others too, as well, and have thought of him often over the past 12 months. 

Last night I found out he’d been arrested. A promising student and athlete just a year ago, he and someone else with a similar background had gotten into some time of disagreement that escalated, and both ended up in handcuffs. 

Even though the name was the same, I hoped it was someone different. 

That day in 2024, God’s Spirit pointed out to this young man a Bible. I believe God urged his spirit to want to pick it up, and to open it exactly where he did. I believe whatever he read that day was exactly what God wanted him to read, and I even believe he’s never forgotten it. 

It was absolutely God’s timing that our church chose to donate those bibles to those individuals, to have their names put on them, and for me to get the honor of handing each Bible to its intended recipient. I believe God gave me the opportunity to speak with this young man about his experience and new gift, and it is God who has reminded me occasionally to pray for him by name. 

I’ve spent some time praying for him in the last several hours, as well. I’m praying that God was able to get his attention again, and that even if he hasn’t read the Bible since the day he received it, he would have a deep desire to read it now. 

I’m asking God to put people in his path who love and care about him — not just his physical condition, but his mental health and spiritual condition, as well. 

This person is someone God created, someone God loves, for whom Jesus died, for whom Jesus rose again, to whom God has spoken, to whom God delivered His Word, and someone God has protected and preserved until this day.

So, I’m asking God this day to make a dramatic change in this young man’s life. I hope he never forgets getting arrested, and the decisions he made that led to it. I hope he never forgets God’s love for him, and decisions he can make to follow that God. 

Yes, enforced laws and the justice system properly applied are needed, both for society and the individual. But God’s redemption is needed more. And God can certainly use the first to lead to the second. He has not given up on this young person. When God changes a person on the inside, their actions (and therefore future) change, too. And so does their community.

I’m asking you to pray for him and the other person arrested, too. In so doing, you are also praying for your community. You may not know their names, but God does.

Editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.