The Best Message

I WAS SURPRISED when she called and asked to meet for lunch. We had been casual friends during the years our sons played ball together, drawn together because we were both newcomers to our environment. But our sons had grown up, and we hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

As I waited for her to arrive, I had flashbacks of our last lunch together five years earlier in the same restaurant. I can’t recall the words I used at the time, but my goal had been to make the gospel clear to this woman I might never see again. After some small talk, she listened intently as I flipped through the pages of my little gospel booklet. She responded to my obvious concern for her, but not to the message. Life was too complex for her to add anything else, she explained. I nodded to show I understood and soon left her with the booklet and a hug.

“It’s been five years,” she said as we were seated at our table. Even before we ordered our food, she began to catch me up on her life, which had been challenging during recent months.

Then I knew it was time—the “elephant” in that room needed to be addressed. I reached in my purse for another copy of the same little gospel booklet, ready to present the Good News again. But before I could say a word, my friend asked if she could have the booklet to replace the one I had given her before, the one that had sat on her nightstand for nearly five years. She showed me the dingy, crinkled gospel tract as she shared her story.

One day, when life was hard and my friend didn’t know what else to do, she picked up the booklet and read it. Then she read it again and again and began to understand how much God loved her—so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for her sins. She realized He wanted to have a personal relationship with her. She believed. My friend didn’t use any religious jargon but shared excitedly that she is different now. She knows for certain Jesus lives in her heart.

I asked if she had a Bible. She didn’t, so we drove to the nearby Christian bookstore, where we flipped through the options and chose one. While her Bible was being engraved with her name, we talked and laughed and promised to meet once a year for lunch. We have kept our promise.

I waited until I was in my car to cry tears of gratitude and joy. All I did was share a small gospel booklet, but God did what only He can do. How incredible that He uses you and me to impact people’s lives now and for eternity with the very best message! In Romans 10:14-15, the apostle Paul clearly states our responsibility: “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!’”

When all nineteen members of our family gathered for vacation recently, Brynn and Liam, seven-year-old cousins and best buddies, asked Uncle Joey lots of questions about heaven. Joey wrote and illustrated the comic book tract Welcome to Heaven, which I used to share the gospel in the story above. Liam’s and Brynn’s parents joined the lively conversation, and that night, both grandchildren clearly understood the best message and eagerly prayed a prayer of salvation. If we know Jesus, it’s our privilege and responsibility to share the Good News of the gospel. Few life experiences compare.

REFLECTION

Read Romans 10:8-15 for a brief presentation of the gospel and an explanation of why we need to share the Good News with others. Then think about your family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Does someone come to mind who might not have a relationship with the Lord? If you aren’t comfortable sharing the gospel in your own words, offer a tract or an invitation to church or to a special Christian event. Ask the Lord for wisdom, courage, and love. It may take five minutes or five years for a person to recognize their need for a Savior. Continue to pray for your lost friends and family members, and don’t give up!