“The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion
and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them (Isaiah
11:6)." I was listening to an interview on the radio between a Christian
pastor and the wife of a Christian man held captive in Iran for his faith. During
the interview the pastor tells a story of a former Muslim man who came to faith
in Jesus Christ. I am paraphrasing, but the story went something like this:
This man was a fairly violent man who punished anybody who turned from Islam.
He encountered a 10-year old girl who was a Christian. Perhaps not knowing what
she was doing or the possible punishment she could face she implored the man to
accept Jesus Christ. He warned her that if she was not a child he would have
inflicted severe physical punishment on her. She said to the man, "I will
embrace Islam with all my heart if you can show me in the Koran where it says
Allah loves me." I assume he could not do this and it stuck with him for a
long time until one day this man accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. The Apostle
Paul said, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then
neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the
increase. (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)." It was this little girl who
"planted" the seed that someone else may have watered and whom God
gave the increase. How often do we a Christians bite our tongues when it comes
to testifying about Jesus Christ? How often do we hear Christians say things
like, "My faith is a private matter that I don't wear on my sleeve"?
I have even heard of Christians who have described the Gospel of Jesus Christ
as something they "can't put into words." It makes you wonder how it
ever left Jerusalem if you can't put it into words. I don't say all this to
condemn, but to light a fire. A little girl simply said show me a God of love
outside of Jesus Christ and it led to the salvation of the man she said it to.
We don't have to be scholars. We don't have to be missionaries to the far ends
of the earth. We don't have to write books. We don't have to preach sermons. We
don't have to chase people up trees with the Gospel. But, we should
"always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for
the hope that is in you...(1 Peter 3:15)." If a 10-year old girl gave a
reason for the hope she has in her, certainly the rest of us can. And if we
cannot give that reason ask God to show you why and be prepared for Him to show
you. You never know who you might run into and have the opportunity to speak
life into someone who is dead to God.
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