songsofjesus.com

Today is the day of salvation: share Jesus before it’s too late!

---

 

 

“But Peter said, Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this give I to thee…”  Acts 3:6

If anyone was capable of sharing the gospel I was… I’d spent years traveling to churches singing and preaching the praises of Jesus.  You could often find me at the beach handing out tracts, or at the mall hanging out in the astrology section of the bookstore witnessing to whoever I found there.  How then did I fail in the opportunity God was giving me to talk to my own stepfather about Jesus…

I was living in Ft Lauderdale that August day, doing my usual thing.  Only later did I understand that God was trying to get my attention.  It started the morning my amp blew up.  “Oh great!  That’s just GREAT!”  I’m sure I probably said it out loud.  The repair was going to be expensive and I didn’t have the money.  (God had always provided for me, and I had no complaints… but my possessions were a suitcase full of clothes, my sound system, and my car; spare cash was NOT one of my possessions!)

I wish I could say I was really spiritual and full of faith, but I wasn’t.  I did pray, but I also fretted all the way up to the repair shop!  So I dropped off the amp, grabbed my claim check, and left wondering how I was ever going to pay for the repair.  Who knew a mile down the road my amp would be an after thought?  As I headed back down the highway, a driver in front of me made a sudden stop.  My car began to spin and my life began to “flash before my eyes” as I jumped the median into oncoming traffic!  I narrowly missed 3 cars, thought for a second I was going to make it to the roadside unscathed when, “Bam!”, I had a head on collision.

Fortunately, no was hurt.  Unfortunately, my car was now totaled!  It was too old to merit carrying collision insurance, so there I was, a traveling singer without a sound system AND without a car!  “Oh great!  Lord, this is JUST great…”

Over the next few days I contemplated the whole thing and wondered how I was ever going to pay for a new car and get my amp fixed.  I alternated between faith and fretting. All I could think about was how was I going to get this “stuff” fixed, when I heard God say to me, “It’s not about the stuff!  It’s not about the amp.  It’s not about the car!”  I didn’t get it.  What WAS it about?  I just had no clue.  Meanwhile, I took public transportation and prayed about it.  (The truth is, for me it was STILL about the stuff!  I wanted a car!)

During this time my sister called and offered to help me find a new car.  She was insistent though that I come back to Wisconsin to do it.  While I really appreciated her offer, it made no sense to me: I didn’t even have enough money to pay for a car and an amp, let alone plane tickets to go to Wisconsin!  I’d think, “Why is she being so insistent for me to go all the way back there?”  I kept trying to think of another way!  And I heard God say again, “I told you, it’s NOT about the stuff!  It’s NOT about the car!”

I was beside myself; I just didn’t get it!  I was also starting to realize I was between a rock and a hard place… it was like God had hemmed me in!  So, I went to Wisconsin to get help.  Everyday while I was there I would take a walk and pray, and most days I would feel God telling me, “Don’t worry about the car.  It’s not about the car.  I can get you a car, it’s NOT about that.”  (And you know, it wasn’t about the car.  God took care of that almost right away with the help of my family.)

“So what was it about?”, I began to ask myself more and more.  As I continued my daily prayer walks another phrase kept coming to me… “Silver and gold have I not, but what I have I give you.”  I knew exactly what it meant to me.  I felt God was telling me to share the gospel with my stepdad.  (My stepdad had given me so much through the years, but what did I have to give him?  I was broke!)  And day after day I would hear God tell me, “Silver and gold have I not, but what I have I give you.”  I didn’t have any worldly thing to my name, but I did have this one treasure; God wanted me to tell my stepdad about Jesus.

I was in Wisconsin for about a month, and every day I thought about it.  I don’t believe there was a day that went by that I didn’t hear that verse in my head, “Silver and gold have I not…”.  If I ever knew God was speaking to me, this was it.  But I kept putting it off.  It never seemed to be the right time.  We were busy doing things together… my brother was home from Michigan, my sister lived in town, the whole family was together having fun… it never seemed to be the right moment.  As the time drew nearer for me to leave, God’s voice grew louder, “but what I have I give you”.  It was constantly in the back of my mind and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I needed to do.

Finally, the day came for me to go back to Florida.  As I shook my stepdad’s hand to say goodbye, I heard the words one last time, “Silver and gold have I not, but what I have I give you”.  But it seemed especially awkward now; I was about to leave and everybody was saying goodbye.  As I drove away I comforted myself that I would talk to him about it soon.  But soon never came; I was back to Florida for just a day when I got the phone call.  It was from my sister… my stepfather had just died.  

It wasn’t about the car; it wasn’t about the stuff.  God had worked through my circumstances to get me back to Wisconsin so I could share the gospel with my stepdad.

Today is the day of salvation

I had shared the gospel with my stepdad years before, but he wasn’t open to it.  After his death I learned that others had also shared Jesus with him.  Had he ever called out to the Lord?  I will never know until I leave this world.  All I know is God spoke to me every day for a month to talk to him about Jesus.  I should have listened and obeyed; wishing I had won’t change a thing… that moment is forever gone.

We all have our reasons and excuses for not sharing the gospel, but I learned the hard way that when God says, “TODAY is the day of salvation”, He means TODAY… there may not be a tomorrow.

Tags: faith, gospel, hearing God, obeying God, share Jesus, Today is the day of salvation, witnessing