Red Herring

Tossing crumpled bill booklets at the driver’s door of each car, I walked thru the parking lot at the doctor’s office. After waiting just a few minutes in the doc’s waiting room, my name was called and a very nice gal named Sasha ushered me into “my room”. While she asked me some questions I noticed that she had on a red bracelet. “Hmm…”, I thought, “our church is having a campaign in which people are supposed to wear red bracelets and this is supposed to remind them to ‘live dangerously’-some sort of reminder to ‘share their faith’. After Sasha finished I asked her what that red bracelet was for.
She said, “It’s from my church.”
“What does it say?”
“Live dangerously.”
“What does that mean?”
“Live by God.”
“Huh?”
“Live by what God says.”
Now I stopped and looked her right in the eye and said, “How do I get to Heaven?”
Sasha stopped and her eyebrows went up and she sort of shrugged, leaving an unspoken ‘Your guess is as good as mine’ hanging in the air. I asked Sasha if good people went to Heaven. She said yes. I asked her if she was good and she said she was. I took her thru the Good Person Test (take it yourself-to the right side of this site). Sasha came to the swift realization that she was headed straight to Hell for eternity. When I mentioned Jesus she seemed relieved and gained confidence yet again. When we talked about the demons knowing Him, she stopped. We talked about the difference in just knowing Him and surrendering to Him as King. I asked Sasha if she had ever surrendered to Him. She said, “No.” I asked what would stop her from doing this now, since she wasn’t promised her next breath. She immediately bowed her head and prayed. I prayed for her when she was finished and then she stood and came across the room and gave me a giant hug. My camera was still in my purse from PIE last night so I asked her to take a pic of us…God bless you Sasha in your new life with Him.

Sometimes it’s easy to assume someone is ‘on their way to Heaven’ because they somehow fit the mold. If they use the ‘right’ language or wear something to indicate they have an awareness of God, we may feel as though we are “off the hook” in terms of evangelism. But since we will probably only have a brief window of time with them we need to make sure they are actually part of His family. I had someone tell me that they would be offended if someone came up to them to make sure they were really saved. 2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves… I would risk offending someone in order to make sure they are headed in the right direction.
2Timothy 3:16, 17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.