Day 107 - The Spirit is Willing, But ...

After 107 days of trying to follow Jesus and learn to fish for men (Matt. 4:19), one thing is painfully clear. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, lazy, selfish, and woefully unconcerned about the eternal fate of those all around me.

On my way to work this morning, my gas light came on. As I stopped to get gas, I immediately thought about parking at a pump where another person was already parked getting gas so I could share a gospel tract and attempt to strike up a conversation. Then, my flesh quickly reacted to that spiritually attuned thought. Don't worry about it, my flesh said. You're running behind. You're tired. You don't feel like it. What if they're uninterested. There will be another opportunity. It's amazing how quickly the fleshly excuses flooded in and tried to drown out the spirit's call to bear witness to one thing that matters most--Jesus.

Fortunately, the spirit prevailed. I parked next to a truck where a young man was standing with his father getting gas. I shared the tract. The young man wasn't sure what his destiny would be. While sharing with him, I was able to include his dad in the conversation, too. They received encouragement to consider their eternal destiny.

Later, at lunch, an employee with whom I had witnessed a week or so earlier smiled broadly at me when she saw me come in. She walked up to me later with a big smile, and I asked her if she already had spent her million dollars. We laughed. She wanted more. She had given one to her daughter and wanted to give away more. Turns out she's a believer and so is her daughter. It encouraged me to see what an encouragement it was to her that I shared that tract with her previously. It also encouraged me that we clearly have a great new bond in the Lord.