My heart goes out to you and I have just prayed that your husband will be humbled and brought to “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). It is good to read that your husband doesn’t ridicule you and that he’s willing to attend a church meeting with you on occasion. You go on to say that “he understands what Christianity is all about; he’s just not ready.” I can say emphatically that he does NOT understand what Christianity is all about, for if he did he would realize that he is a lost and guilty sinner who is on his way to eternal destruction and thus he desperately needs to be saved. He needs to come to the Savior and get on the road that leads to eternal life before it’s forever too late. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

If your husband is willing to sit down with you over an open Bible, I would challenge his statement, “I’m just not ready” by showing him that there are THREE reasons for him to come to Christ NOW!

1) He could DIE at any moment. In Proverbs 27:1 we read, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”  We read something similar in James 4:13-14, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” So, he is living very dangerously in thinking he can wait for a more appropriate time to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. He could lose his life in an instant (in an accident, by having a fatal heart attack or stroke, etc.). This is why the Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2nd Corinthians 6:2).

2) He may become GOSPEL-HARDENED. What does that mean? It means he may hear the gospel many times and by rejecting or even neglecting its message his heart may become so HARD that he is content to die as he lived—WITHOUT CHRIST! We have a solemn example of this in King Agrippa, a man who heard the gospel from the lips of the Apostle Paul. His response to Paul was this: “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” He was basically saying, “No, I’m not convinced YET that I need to be a Christian.” Earlier in the book of Acts we see another man named Felix who also heard the gospel from Paul and his response was, “Go away for now; when I have a CONVENIENT SEASON I will call for you.” We never read of him anymore so it seems obvious that his “convenient season” never came to pass. He may have had GOOD INTENTIONS, but that’s all he had. I have often told procrastinators a saying I heard years ago, “The road to hell is PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS.” Hebrews 3:7-8 solemnly declares, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.’”

3) The Lord may return at any moment and he would be LEFT BEHIND. The Lord Jesus told all who believe on Him, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE YOU TO MYSELF; that where I am there you may be also.” We call this the “Rapture” for when the Lord comes every believer will be “CAUGHT UP…to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” What will happen to those who don’t believe? They will be LEFT BEHIND! They will have had their chance to trust in Christ for salvation but at that time the “door of salvation will be closed to them.” The Lord Jesus told a parable about His coming in Matthew 25:1-13 and in verse 10 He said, “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and THOSE WHO WERE READY went in with him to the wedding; and THE DOOR WAS SHUT.” Only believers ARE READY for the Lord’s coming, so when your husband says “I’m NOT READY” he is actually “NOT READY” for the Lord’s coming.

Again, if your husband is willing to hear the Word of God, I would go over these THREE REASONS not to procrastinate. If any one of these three things happens he will go out into a lost eternity with no hope of ever escaping the horrors of hell. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and HE WHO DOES NOT BELIEVE THE SON SHALL NOT SEE LIFE, but THE WRATH OF GOD ABIDES ON HIM.”  May the Lord use your faithful testimony (see 1st Peter 3:1-6) to give him the desire to be saved; and may the power of God’s Word open his eyes to his need of Christ and cause him to believe (see Hebrews 4:12; Romans 1:16 and 10:17).  (406.1)  (DO)