For those of you who regularly practice personal evangelism, these two passages are well off the well-known Romans road. For some reason, I felt led to share those two passages with her; I found out afterwards that her grandfather was a pastor of a local church and he regularly quoted both passages around the house! She told me of how her grandfather often gave of himself to the family and the members of the old church he served in the county. He always offered a kind word, a firm handshake, and prayer for everyone he met. She again thanked me for sharing that with her and for encouraging her. By this time, another customer had entered the store and was now approaching the counter. I handed her a gospel tract and asked her to please read it when she had time. She asked me which church hymn I had whistled when I came in the store, and unfortunately, I told her an incorrect title, There’s Within My Heart a Melody, which is actually the first part of the first verse of the song. With that, I left the convenience store and headed back to the car and to the miles of highways still to be driven before I would make it back home.
As I left the small town of Canton snuggled in the mountains of western North Carolina, I noticed that it was not the first gas station that I had passed, but had been the only one I had noticed coming into town. No, I don’t know if the woman I talked to that day was a Christian or if she would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. All I know is what the apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians at Corinth: 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 (I Corinthians 3:6-9).
For me, it does not matter if I planted a new seed or watered one that was planted years ago by the loving hand and kind words of a grandfather. It’s not for me to worry about; it’s up to me to do what God has laid on my heart to do. It’s up to me to be obedient to the leanings of the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus taught that And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours (John 4:36-38). What an exciting thing it is that God allows us to take part in ministering the gift of salvation to others. What bigger reward can we get than to know that we had a small role in bringing someone to the Lord Jesus Christ? What’s even more amazing is that when we have set our minds to be more obedient to the direction of the Holy Spirit that sometimes He will lead us off the beaten path to reach someone with the healing and soul cleansing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
