KNOW SOMEONE WHO SEEMS TOO FAR GONE?
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9
“Excuse me, sir,” I said tentatively as I regarded the dirty, homeless drug addict sprawled on the sidewalk in front of me, his knapsack tucked by his side and a boyish grin on his face, his eyes rolling around as he thoroughly enjoyed his high. I thought to hurry off, but could not seem to move away from him. He looked too far gone to even hear me, let alone know I stood by his side. But I felt led to ask my question anyway. “Would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”
“Ya,” he uttered as he held his arm up in the air without even looking to receive the sandwich, a leftover from the second day of my Peanut Butter & Jesus project, distributing sandwiches, Gospel tracts, devotionals and Bibles to the homeless and others in extreme need.
I handed him a sandwich and didn’t bother with the tracts and devotionals; he was clearly too high and too far gone to eat the sandwich, let alone read a tract about Jesus. So I turned and walked away – until a firm and loving hand from heaven seemed to stop me and turn me around. I walked back to the man who was now back in the throws of his high, the sandwich left to the wayside.
“This is my story,” I told him as I set my Finding the Light Gospel tract and testimony down on the pavement next to him. “You can read it later.” When I walked off this time, I knew I had left him with far more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to provide a little meal. I had given him a precious seed of heavenly love and everlasting life.
Not so long ago, broken and hopeless, surely I had seemed too far gone in the eyes of the world to be rescued and redeemed. Little did I know God had been sending human angels for decades to sow the seeds of Christ into my heart and life. They didn’t refuse to sow God’s seeds into my life because I had appeared too far gone; they sowed anyway. The Lord not only rescued and redeemed me; He made me into a seed sower. I had not been too far gone for the outstretched arm of the Lord. Who am I then to hold back the seeds the Lord places in my heart and hands to sow? Who am I to ever say someone is too far gone for the Lord? So long as He continues to give me the privilege of sowing the seeds of the Gospel message and the Bible into hearts and lives, I humbly hope to continue sowing.