In the years following the American Civil War (1861-1865), Union Major General Lew Wallace served as a governor of the New Mexico territories; New Mexico not yet having been admitted as a state. His work there put him in contact with many of the characters that make up the Wild West's near-mythic history, including Billy the Kid and Sheriff Pat Garrett. It was here that Wallace wrote what has been called by some "the most influential Christian book" of the 19th century, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.
Wallace witnessed the worst impact of sin on humanity as he saw the violence of the Civil War and the Wild West. In life and in his best-selling book, Wallace understood that only the story of Jesus Christ has the power of redemption and reconciliation. For the follower of Christ, the climax of our lives was the moment God "rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13-14). Now we have the privilege of being storytellers of God's wonderful redemption. The difference Christ makes in your life is a story worth telling.
AMEN
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