It is the time of year when as the days pass, so does the daylight available to us. So
on Tuesday morning when I was driving to work in the dark I could see flashing lights approaching me from quite a distance.
The lights were from an ambulance and they pierced the darkness as the siren cried out that someone was in danger, perhaps of even losing their life. Sometimes when I see this I pray for whomever is in trouble. Other times I just do what so many of us have been doing for decades now, I pull over in order to make as much room for the emergency vehicle as possible. It struck me that morning how in a matter of moments people cooperate with this process, as all the vehicles on both sides of the road pulled off to the side to let the ambulance through. In such instances I consider that we are all thinking the same thing, “If it was me that ambulance was for, I would sure want everyone to get out of the way because it may be a matter of my life or death.” The fact of the matter is that we don’t want to be the ones in the way of saving someone’s life.
Last Saturday I attended the Missions Conference breakfast that featured the ministry of “The Pocket Testament”. If you are not familiar with this ministry, one of the main resources they offer to spread the gospel is a pocket sized version of the book of John. The idea of course is that it fits quite nicely in your pocket so you can always carry one around and hand it off to someone when the opportunity seems right. The speaker shared how he easy it is to share it by teaching all of us to take it in our hands and simply say, “Here, I want you to have this.” He also gave examples of the variety of ways to share the testament, like leaving it along with your tip at a restaurant. When the presentation was over I was encouraged yet again to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others so I resolved that I was going to start leaving them around the prison. I figured, how hard could it be to just drop one off somewhere? The answer? Hard.
For the first three days of this week I walked around with my pocket-sided gospel of John only to find that at the end of the day, there is was….in my pocket. By day three, it was looking worn and it really started to bother me that I had not placed one somewhere because I either had forgotten about it, or became too concerned that an officer would see me place it somewhere (because I have a feeling this would not be supported by the administration at the prison).
On Thursday morning I resolved that this was going to be the day that I “delivered” the testament to some location at the prison. I asked God to give me the courage and the opportunity to do so and I am pleased to say that both Thursday andFriday
, the “package” was delivered. Where did they end up? In the trash? In an inmate’s hand? In an officer’s hand? Under a bench somewhere? I don’t know. All I know is that I left them on benches where many inmates sit and I asked The Lord to put them in the hands of someone who really needed to hear the gospel.
I must tell you that the main reason I try and share the gospel is because I don’t want to be the one who gets in the way of someone’s life being saved. If I know how to get out of the way when it is a matter of physical life or death, than surely I should be striving to clear the way for someone to hear the gospel and in many instances the only obstacle to this happening is my own reasons as to why I shouldn’t share it. Who knows, God may have used those two pocket-testaments to bring to people into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ this past week. I also consider that those little gospels could find their way into many hands, as things often get passed around the prison. I like to think of me sharing the gospel this way as me “pulling over to the side of the road and letting The Lord through”.
There are a lot of things that can come our way that can take our physical life. Jesus spoke about this truth and put things in perspective when He shared, “
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28
Every day we are surrounded by people who are in danger of their body and souls being destroyed in hell. There are no sirens following them around. You don’t see any flashing lights accompanying them, but they are in great danger just the same. We all know how to do it….pullling over to let The Lord through. Are you in the way?
For Him,
Rob