It was such a beautiful day. I put my MP3 player on, ear plugs in, and off I went for a brisk walk today which rejuvenated my senses. The smell of the fresh crisp spring air put a bounce in every step and the beat of the music kept me going. The bright sunshine seemed to sing of hope as it warmed my face.
As I came near to the end of my time of exercise, I smiled and waved to someone in a neighboring driveway. Then I noticed the dog with a bright orange vest, the long walking stick, and the fact the woman was wearing big, dark sunglasses. She was blind. The dog seemed to wave his tail in a kind hello back, but boy did I feel stupid. I waved to a blind person and didn’t utter a word. She may have heard my footsteps crunch atop the left over gravel from winter, but she couldn’t see that I had waved or smiled. I walked up my front yard to the porch of my home looking around from left to right to see if anyone else had noticed I’d just waved to a blind person. It seemed as though I was safe from watching eyes and no jokes would be made over my fatal mistake.
It’s funny how God can bring a story to my mind from my failures to help me learn a little more about Him. He hit me in my weakest link as a Christian…opening my mouth to witness for Him. I often say,
“They’ll see Jesus in me by my acts of love and service. I’ll just wait until they ask me why I am the way I am….then I’ll tell them about Jesus.”
Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so.
When I don’t open my mouth and talk about Jesus when the opportunity arises, it’s just like me waving to the blind person. The person who does not know the Lord is blind. In me waving kindly, Jesus goes unnoticed and unheard. His message gets lost amidst the footsteps in the gravel as I rush to get to the next thing I feel I need to accomplish. I play it safe and say nothing, so no jokes will be made by others about my boldness for Christ. I need to speak up so the blind might see…see Jesus and be free!
As I came near to the end of my time of exercise, I smiled and waved to someone in a neighboring driveway. Then I noticed the dog with a bright orange vest, the long walking stick, and the fact the woman was wearing big, dark sunglasses. She was blind. The dog seemed to wave his tail in a kind hello back, but boy did I feel stupid. I waved to a blind person and didn’t utter a word. She may have heard my footsteps crunch atop the left over gravel from winter, but she couldn’t see that I had waved or smiled. I walked up my front yard to the porch of my home looking around from left to right to see if anyone else had noticed I’d just waved to a blind person. It seemed as though I was safe from watching eyes and no jokes would be made over my fatal mistake.
It’s funny how God can bring a story to my mind from my failures to help me learn a little more about Him. He hit me in my weakest link as a Christian…opening my mouth to witness for Him. I often say,
“They’ll see Jesus in me by my acts of love and service. I’ll just wait until they ask me why I am the way I am….then I’ll tell them about Jesus.”
Sound familiar? Yeah, I thought so.
When I don’t open my mouth and talk about Jesus when the opportunity arises, it’s just like me waving to the blind person. The person who does not know the Lord is blind. In me waving kindly, Jesus goes unnoticed and unheard. His message gets lost amidst the footsteps in the gravel as I rush to get to the next thing I feel I need to accomplish. I play it safe and say nothing, so no jokes will be made by others about my boldness for Christ. I need to speak up so the blind might see…see Jesus and be free!
"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you."
~John 15:24
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