The First of Many

Rom 16:5  Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

   

Epaenetus was the first convert of Paul in Asia (Achaia). His name means commendable. Now, he abides in Rome where Paul includes him in this litany of people he calls out by name for special recognition and greeting.

Do you remember your first convert? Did fruit develop as a result of their profession of faith?

My first convert was Clay Lomax. Not much fruit here, as far as I know. I led him to the Lord in the employee's locker room at Russell Stover Candies, Montrose, Colorado, in 1976. I had been saved for about 2 years.

Clay was a doctor's son. Mildly retarded. He ran the dishwasher, really a very important job in a candy factory.

I'll never forget, a few weeks after his profession, I rounded the corner in the locker room and we was just finishing a pull on a flask of whiskey. Whoa! Was he embarrassed and ashamed! He felt he really let me down by reverting to such behavior.

Clay is gone now, I hope, in the presence of the One who loved him so. Whether Clay was one of my converts or a true convert of the Lord, only heaven will reveal.

After I left Stover's to go to Bible college, we never crossed paths again, although others said he often asked about me. I too have often thought about Clay. As Paul called Epaenetus his well beloeved, I think similarly of a retarded doctor's son, dishwasher at the candy factory and the first person I ever led to Christ.