Just before takeoff...

Last week while on a flight across the United States from the east coast to the west coast, my husband and I were astounded as we listened to a young man sitting in the seat in front of us.  He was addressing a young woman sitting beside of him.  I'm not sure how he initiated the conversation or if he had introduced himself.  We had not even left the airport when I heard him ask her if she read the Bible.  I could not hear what she said but I saw his Bible laying open in his hands.  I then heard him ask her if he could ask her a couple of questions.  This intrigued me somewhat because years ago, I had taken a course at a church that must have been the same course that he had taken.  There is nothing wrong with the course and it does give you a guideline to go by but I have found that it is not the approach I feel most comfortable with.   I have lead people to the Lord through this course, but I think of it more as a cold turkey approach when you do not know the person or their background.  More often than not, the door is closed before you can even get a conversation going.

He began by asking her if she thought she would go to heaven when she died.  I was actually surprised she even conversed with him.  She must have said something like, "I don't know," or "I don't believe anyone can know the answer to that," because he went on to the next question. He asked her if he could show her what the Bible had to say about it.  If  you've ever been involved in this study, you know the next question.  "If you were to stand before God and He were to ask you why  should I let you into My heaven, what would you say?"  I couldn't hear the ladies response but I could see the guy moving his Bible back and forth as he continued talking. Several of the other passengers had noticed what was going on as well and were looking at the man and woman.  Eventually,  I saw the young woman pull her hoodie over her head and the man was no longer talking.  The plane took off and he never said another word to her the rest of the flight.

As I sat in my seat and thought of the days of sorrow I had just gone through in losing my brother and the state of my emotional being, I wondered how I would feel if the  young man had been sitting beside me.  How would I have felt?  Witnessing to someone about the Lord is a wonderful thing to do but we need to be mindful  about our approach and our timing.  We often do not know what a person is going through... In a sense, it reminded me of the security guard who had checked my ticket at the airport.  I was struggling with an overwhelming loss, and sadness and  was en route to my brother's funeral. He checked my ticket and looked at me as he had the passenger before me, and then said, "Have a fun day!"  

Jesus, on the other hand, knows our deepest needs.... He knows our fears, our anxieties, our sadness, our sorrows.  He knows our heart... His desire is that all people come to know Him... and how we come to know Him most often is through the lives of other people.   I heard a pastor recently say to his congregation, "We do not need another defense attorney for the Lord. He can handle that.  What we need is witnesses."  If you only had five minutes with a person you are never going to see again... what would you say?  Does your heart show your love for Jesus?  Does your heart match your words?  When was the last time you had someone sitting on the edge of their seat hanging on to every word you were saying of what Jesus was doing in your life?  

We have opportunities every day to witness for Christ.... through acts of kindness, giving to someone in need, calling or going to see someone who is struggling to make it through another day.  Let us pray that God's love would flow through us and that we would be an encouragement to everyone we meet.  Let us not be so concerned about a formula for winning someone to Christ... let us show them a transformed life.

"For we do not preach ourselves , but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light to shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."    

            2 Corinthians 4:5-7

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this  with gentleness and respect.."

            1 Peter 3:15