I’d like to know more about Bill.  I’d like to see the movie about him entitled Door to Door.  I already admire his life.  Keith Wishum introduced Bill to me in an article that he wrote about him.  Here’s an excerpt of Keith’s article:

Bill stepped off the curb... in front of a bus!  The horrified driver slammed on the brakes, but the bus slammed Bill to the pavement and to an extended hospital stay.

Insurance wouldn’t cover the hospitalization, and Bill’s lawyer urged him to sue the bus company.  Bill refused.  Instead, he sold his house to pay his medical bills.  “It was my fault,” he insisted.

What would you have said?  “Stupid driver!  Why wasn’t he paying attention?”  Or, maybe, “He was going too fast.  If he had been driving the limit, he could have stopped.”

Bill Porter, now made famous by the movie, Door to Door, was not in the habit of making excuses or blaming others.  He was born with cerebral palsy.  His slurred speech and ungainly walk made it nearly impossible in the 1950’s for him to find a job.  But he refused to rely on social services and disability income.  Porter was determined to be responsible for himself.

Porter took the worst sales route the Watkins Company had in Portland to get the chance to prove himself.  When customers reacted negatively to his appearance, Porter persisted and was patient.  His sales grew steadily, leading to his recognition as Salesman of the Year in 1996.*

Here’s something we can all learn from Bill: when we “step off the curb in front of a bus,” we need to accept responsibility for our actions.  We’ve all “stepped off the curb” in that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  And, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

But there is good news!  God loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so that we might have the forgiveness of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (John 3:16; Romans 6:23).

In order to enjoy that forgiveness and receive the gift of eternal life, we must first acknowledge that we have indeed “stepped off the curb in front of the bus” and that it was our fault!  Then, we must turn from that sin and turn to Jesus.  This is what the Bible calls “repentance” (Acts 2:38; 17:30-31).  We must place our faith and trust in Jesus, who paid the price for our sins (Acts 16:30-31; 1 Peter 1:18-19).  Then, confessing our faith that Jesus is God’s Son (Romans 10:9-10), we must be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Thus having been “born again” in baptism, we must continue to walk in the light of His Word, for when we do so, the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin (1 John 1:7).

Keith Wishum states, “Blaming others is easy, but it solves nothing.  Admitting our failures (confessing our sins, the Bible calls it) and accepting both responsibility and grace is much more difficult.  But it is also much more productive.”

Productive indeed!  For when we acknowledge our sins and accept God’s gracious offer on His terms, then we are made “new creatures”: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Won’t YOU acknowledge your need and accept God’s solution on His terms?

-- David A. Sargent

* Keith Wishum, “A Word from Williams Road #169 – When You Step Off the Curb.”  Keith is the minister for the Williams Road church of Christ in Americus, GA.

David A. Sargent, Minister