Christian Living
ONE OF THE BLESSINGS
One of the blessings of being a Christian is being able to meet someone who knows the Lord but who has not been walking in fellowship with Him, and then to see that life transformed right before your very eyes. I had the wonderful priviledge of that experience a number of years ago. It happened on this wise.
My wife and I were attending a small bible college in Northern Saskatchewan , Canada and we were renting a home on a property that had another Christian couple living in a home and two young men renting there as well. One of the young men I knew for sure was a Christian because he attended the same college and he was a fervent witness for the gospel. The other fellow was a long haired cigarette smoking hippie as far as I was concerned, but of course, I had never talked to him and didn't know him from a hole in the ground. How often we judge by appearance eh, I was guilty of that. God had a suprise in store for me.
I was chatting with the believing brother (John) one day and he asked me if I had ever talked with (Ross) whom I had judged was an unbeliever. I said that I hadn't and he said, you know Ross is a born again christian too. I said, you mean that long haired smoking hippie. He said yes, he knows the Lord too. I said, I find that hard to believe. He said, well chat with him sometime and you will find out for yourself. I said, I will do just that. I went into the house and said to my wife, John says that Ross is a born again Christian, can you believe it? She said, why don't you pray that you will have an opportunity to chat with him. I said that I would.
About a week went by and one Saturday morning as I was sitting in a chair by the window reading, I saw Ross outside with the hood of his car opened. I felt that this was an opportune time to approach him on the matter so I said to my wife. I'm going out to talk with Ross, pray for me. She said, I will honey.
I walked over to Ross introduced myself and then mentioned to him that John said that he was a born again believer. Ross replied that he was and then I asked him if he would mind sharing his testimony with me which he did. Sure enough, he was a born again christian believer saved by the grace of God.
I asked him if he was attending church anywhere and he mentioned that he wasn't at the present time. He said that he went every once in awhile to church with his sister but hadn't done so for quite some time. I said, well how would you like to come out to church with my wife and myself tomorrow morning. He said sure, I would like that and then he said that he was in a bit of a hurry as he had to pick someone up. I said no problem Ross. I told him that I would save a seat and a hymnbook for him. We shook hands and he left for his apartment to change before he picked up his ride.
I went into our house and said to my wife PRAISE THE LORD ROSS IS A CHRISTIAN. She responded with a HALLELUJAH ,as well. Then I said to her, just to make sure that he comes I will go and tell him that he can ride with us. That way we know that he will come. She just laughed and shook her head.
Off I headed to Ross's apartment and knocked on his door. He answered it and I said, Ross, I was thinking, there's no sense in taking two vehicles, you can ride with us to church. He laughed and said, don't worry I'll be there.
That next morning we arrived at church and I made sure that nobody took the seat next to us and as well I had placed a hymnbook on it. Into the first hymn at the service out of the corner of my eye I could see an individual move into that spot. As I turned to look, sure enough there was Ross with a big smile on his face. I reached over and shook his hand and thanked God that he had kept his word.
Ross began to attend on a regular basis and we just continued to pray for his growth. We didn't mention a thing about his hair or about his cigarette smoking but just trusted the Lord. In a matter of weeks Ross showed up at church with a brush cut and before we knew it he had gotten victory over his tobacco habit.
One day I asked him to attend the college's chapel time service. He said, don't you have to be attending bible school to go there. I said, no, anybody can sit in on the chapel time, and besides I said, who knows but maybe God will make a preacher out of you. He said, that will be the day!
Well, guess what, he did end up attending bible school and God did make a PREACHER OUT OF HIM. Hallelujah, What a Saviour! He has continued in his walk with the Lord, serving him faithfully.
Copyright Gary James Smith
Jan. 2011
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