You Are Not Just A Number To The Lord

Back at my previous church, they decided one year to save some money by going with a cheaper health insurance for my family. My wife had a business contact who sold insurance, and so we met with this guy Jim about insurance one Tuesday morning at our house. I remember being a little impatient to get that meeting over with, because I had important church work to do that day: writing a sermon, studying a Bible Class, making a call, things like that. So I was really hoping to get this insurance meeting with Jim done in less than an hour, because I had important church work to do that day. Unfortunately for me, Jim is one of those people who likes to talk and tell a lot of stories. And if I hadn’t had so much important church work to do that day, I might not have minded sitting and talking to him. But my patience was tested during that 3-hour meeting at my house, especially when Jim would talk about things that were completely off the topic, like how frogs can move their eyes so that one eye can look straight ahead, while the other eye moves around and watches for a fly to eat. I’m sure that’s really important information for a person to know, but like I said I had a lot of things to get done that day. Well, that insurance meeting finally did end and I was able to get to my important church work. A few weeks later we heard the news that Jim had been killed in a motorcycle accident. And worse, Jim’s funeral was going to be at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. And I think back with shame on the morning that we had met with him in our house, and how worried I was about getting my stuff done, that I didn’t even bother to ask Jim where he went to church. Had I taken the time to do that, I could of at least given a witness about the Triune God, in whom he did not know. That day, the important church work that needed to get done wasn’t in my office, but it was sitting at my kitchen table, and I didn’t even recognize it.

Philip could have viewed the Ethiopian eunuch as a freakish foreigner who was wasting his time, time that he could have been spending in his successful church in Samaria. But Philip didn’t look at people like that. And the Lord who loves all people wants to teach you this morning to view people not as bothers and obstacles, but as treasures and opportunities to share your faith. God will bring about results when we talk about the peace Jesus has brought to our lives. Open your eyes for ways to share your faith. It might not be as obvious as the person sitting next to you on the airplane having their Bible open to Isaiah 53 and asking you what that passage means, though who knows, God works in mysterious ways. But there will be opportunities this week if you open your eyes and look for them. The opportunity might come in the form of someone asking what you, a Christian, thinks about a certain movie or book, and you would be able to tell them about the Book of Books, which contains absolute eternal truth. It might be someone wondering why there are so many bad things and evil people in this world, which would give you the chance to talk about the place you are going to one day, where there will be only good things and glorious people and a great God. It might be someone, like the eunuch, not feeling very special, feeling like more like a number than an individual, giving you the chance to tell them how valuable and dearly loved they are by God. You can tell them what Christ did to make them a treasured person. How will God use you this week? Open your eyes and view people as God views you: not as a 9-digit number, but as a soul bought back from sin by his Son’s Blood! Treat everyone you meet this week as a precious treasure, because that’s how God sees them. Amen.

sdg