Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Not the Hokey Pokey


"Will you please go see her? She asked that you come see her soon." That was the message I got from two different people. They were friends of a lady I met in the ICU at a local hospital a few weeks ago. In our first meeting I was able to talk to her about her incurable cancer and her eternity. After a long discussion about the Gospel, she committed her life to Christ even though I told her that does not necessarily mean she will be cured. She understood that and made the commitment anyway saying that she needed relief from her fear and a peace about her future.

She was now back in the hospital and not doing well. I had talked with her on the phone a few times since our last meeting about being baptized. She has not been healthy enough to get out of her house and we were planning to just baptize her at her house. She said her husband was also interested in being baptized and that he wanted to talk to me.

So here I am in the hospital sitting on her bed, her husband in the chair next to us, talking through her salvation experience and her "peace that passes understanding." When I was done talking to her, I looked at her husband and asked about his spiritual condition. He said with great enthusiasm, "You wouldn't believe the difference in her since she was saved and I want what she has!" For the next few minutes I talked with him about the Gospel and concluded by asking him what he wanted to do. His response: "I want to make Jesus my boss."

You never know when the opportunity will arise. A trip to the hospital to meet someone you may not even know could turn out to have eternal consequences. We should be ready to serve at any time in any way. That's what it's all about.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doug:

What an opportunity to share! I am ever amazed at the heart God has given you. A lady I didn't know prayed with me in the Emergency Room at Baptist Hospital while I waited on Richard. We thought we were losing Ben, my now 11 year old son. The peace that prayer gave me was immense. You never know when you can touch someone, you just have to be ready.

Thanks for what you do.
Leslie

Anonymous said...

WOW.

Kime

Jen said...

Praise God. It's neat when this kind of "chain-reaction" happens.