My first thoughts were "Oh great, just what I need". As the man approached, I could see this was a man 'Down on his luck'.
"Hey buddy" he said "Do you have a couple bucks I can borrow" ??
Well my first reaction was "Naw, I only have enough for what I'm getting", But this wasn't exactly true. I could see in his eyes he probably had heard this alot, and he turned away, as I did also.
Then something stopped me in my tracks. A small gentle voice told me " Speak to this man". It was almost like there was this 'Force field' around me. I turned and said
"Wait a minute".
I walked up to the man and said "I can lend you some money, but I want to relay to you a message". The man looked sorta humble and said
"Sure",
which was all I needed to hear. I asked the man how things were going in his life. He told me
"Not so good",
that he was looking for employment and hadn't found anything, and that he was pretty disillusioned at what life was offering him. I then told him that although things at the moment might be looking dim, that there was someone who cared alot about him. That this "someone" was Jesus.
Well the man told me how his family were 'Catholic' and that they were a bunch of hypocrites'. I told the man that
"Just because they are Catholic, doesn't necessarily make them a christian".
He didn't seem to understand what I meant so I told him.
"You know, a Volkeswagen can be in a Cadilac car lot for a hundred years, but that won't ever make that Volkeswagen a Cadilac".
I went on to explain that what Jesus wants from us is a 'personal' relationship'. That 'no religion'..no 'church' is going to save him. That our Lord loved him enough to sacrifice Himself for him. That if he would ask the Lord to be his Savior, to allow the Lord to govern his life, and to know that someone does care about him, and that 'someone' is Jesus. And all he wants is a personal relationship with him. That all he needed to do was 'ask'.
The man seemed moved, I reached into my pocket and handed him some money. I smiled at the man and said
"If you remember just one thing from all of this, just remember Jesus loves you, and that he wants a 'personal' relationship with YOU".
As I turned to walk towards the supermarket, I heard the man call out to me..
"Hey Christian...Thank you".
I'll never forget the chills that went through me, as I was blessed to be used by the Lord as a vessel of His Love & Grace.
I believe this is because we are called to 'Be a witness' with our lives, as well as our tongues. It is as important that we 'reflect' the joy we have in our salvation, as it is to tell others about Jesus. I know personally that a sour demeanor can hardly be something that one would look at and say.. 'Wow, I want what he has"... To quote a popular worship song we sing at our church, "There is JOY in the Lord, there is LOVE in His Spirit, there is HOPE in the knowledge of HIM".
Now don't get me wrong. I am not implying in any way that 'witnessing' is not an important part of what we, as christians, are called to do. But rather let your life 'Reflect' the happiness of your salvation, let others be a 'witness' to your joy in the Lord, and then maybe, just maybe they will 'Want what you have" and your message will 'plant that seed of salvation' that we all strive for in the name of Our Savior Jesus.
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