When I walked in to talk to the guy I noticed that he had a very nice 1965 Mustang fastback in the garage. It was his and he told me all about it. It was Caprice blue and he had re-done everything on the car. It was beautiful. He told me his name was Jeff.
Jeff measured my window for the film and as he did he told me that he used to restore Mustangs for a man. His job was to bring them all up to factory specifics. He said he loved doing it and it taught him a lot.
"I loved working on it and it kept my mind on it instead of other things." He laughed when he said this. "You know, it was a distraction. Something to keep my mind busy. That's what it's about you know, just keeping your mind busy while you're here. We're not here for long!"
'Wow,is this really being dropped in my lap like this?' I thought. "That's right, here one minute and gone the next!" I was meeting Allyson at the nursing home when I was finished here and I had prayed earlier that God would bring someone into our paths to talk to. Guess He was already starting!!
"The big question is what next Jeff?"
"Yeah, you got that right! I'll tell you what I think..." Jeff proceeded to tell me that he believed that God created the world with a big bang about 17 billion years ago and man has evolved ever since. He told me that he liked the science of it. He told me he 'liked religion' because we needed to keep that balance of good and bad in us. It made the world go 'round. He told me that he thinks about this a lot.
When I asked if he believed in life after death he told me that he doesn't really like the idea of Hell. He said that he believed that our spirits came back in our kids.
"So, if I have this right you believe that you are a compilation of your ancestors?"
"That's exactly it!" He nodded then went on to tell me that we all had good and bad in us and then when we die we might get to float around 'god'. He proceeded to use familiar words like forgiveness and Heaven. "I don't believe the Bible. I believe in science."
I told him that my Dad and I had just had a conversation yesterday about quarks. We were discussing the possibility of pure sound being able to break quarks down. "The Bible says that God spoke the world into existence." He didn't know this.
I let him finish his thoughts and when he seemed to pause I asked him when he would be good enough to die. He seemed puzzled by the question. "Well, you mentioned a balance between good and evil in us. When are you good enough to die?"
"Ahhhh...well..."
"Jeff are you a good person?" I asked.
"Yeah. I try do do what's right." he said.
"I want to ask you some questions."
"Go ahead, I'll be honest!" he said. My phone was ringing and I saw that it was Allyson. She probably wondered where I was, so I hit the answer button. My plan was to let her hear what was going on so she would know I was going to be late. I was sitting over in a chair away from the truck and Jeff was standing at the truck with the driver's door open. Suddenly a voice said, 'Your call cannot be completed.'
"Whoa!! Was that the voice of God??" Jeff laughed. He seemed a bit shocked by this.
"No just Bluetooth." oops. I took the phone off Bluetooth and dialed her number then held the phone down. She told me later that she heard us and had prayed for us. By the way, it's a good idea to do this and have someone praying for you while you are talking to someone.
After Jeff answered some questions and admitted that he had probably broken each Commandment I asked him how God would judge him..."Guilty or innocent?"
"I'm going straight to Hell!" he said this with a bit of levity but I didn't let him off the hook.
"Yes, you are." I let it soak in.
"Well, we all are!" he said, as if this were some sort of comfort.
"Do you know what God did for us, so we don't have to go there?" Jeff didn't answer, he looked mystified. "Any idea?" He had no idea!
I told him about Jesus dying for us. He told me he thought it would have been much 'smarter' of God to just have the whole cross come out of the ground with Jesus on it and for Jesus to say something like, "I'm dying for you now. OK go ahead and continue." and then for the cross to go back into position in the hole in the ground. hmmm.
"Do you really think that He could not have come off of that Cross in a flash?? Scripture says that Jesus could have called leagues of angels but he didn't. He willingly laid His life down for you. When he was dying he saw your face Jeff. He knew each and every sin you would commit and He paid for it anyway." We talked about repentance and faith in Jesus.
Jeff still had questions and didn't believe that Jesus was without sin. After talking with him a while longer, I gave him the courtroom illustration and asked him if he could leave after his apology to the court. He got it. I talked again about repentance.
"Jeff, do you think this is important?"
"Yes, I do!" he said and stepped back.
"When do you think you'll take care of it?
You never know when it's your time to go and if you wait, it may be too late for you!""I know... soon!" he said. By now some other people had come into his shop. I gave him a Good Person tract with the payment. He gave me a hug and told me he enjoyed our conversation.
Please pray for Jeff. It seems a bit strange to think that someone might not be familiar with the reason that Jesus came, but that's why we're here-after all!!
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