To those of us who love the LORD, we tend to speak of Him among ourselves quite often. Often we talk about our walk with Him and pray for each other. To ask a Christian how their walk with the LORD is going is by no means offensive. Or it shouldn't be.
If you share a cuppa with me, we will be talking about our walk pretty soon into our tea and cake, and to my mind, as Christians, this is normal. So you can imagine my shock when I inadvertently offended someone who was a professing Christian.
Sipping on my tea, I casually asked, "So how's your walk with the LORD going?" She immediately recoiled and retorted, "I hate it when people ask me that! I am fine, I have everything I want. I don't need God now!" Before I could respond, our husbands returned and the conversation died.
The rest of the afternoon, this woman was cold towards me, and I couldn't help reflecting on her spiritual life- or lack of it. Plus, I was worried for her. What will happen when she finds she does in fact, need God? And she will one day. We all do.
As she was a woman who was studying to become a Salvation Army soldier, I took it for granted that she loved the LORD. Or perhaps she did but saw Him as a genie who granted her whatever she desired, to be summoned only when she wanted something from Him. Perhaps this was the result of false teachings.
Certainly if this young woman had made a confession of faith in Christ but had limited understanding of grace and salvation, she would remain saved. Certainly Christ's atoning death would cover her sin if she was born-again but back-slidden.
God certainly would accept her if she in fact was unsaved and if the Holy Spirit brought her to a saving knowledge of Christ. But firstly she would have to see that her promoting herself as Christian and wanting to be in ministry in the spiritual condition she's in presently, is hypocrisy.
I do think of her a lot, but am unable to approach the subject with her in person. But thankfully, it is not my job to bring her to Christ, or indeed to bring her to repentance. I am not the Holy Spirit.
My job is to turn my concern for her into prayerful petitions to the Father for her salvation or closer walk with Him. God knows, I have a job making sure I am walking the walk and not just talking the talk!
At least by taking tea with her and asking that innocent question, I am now aware of her need for a deeper walk or a new walk. So I pray for her and leave it with God, and I still sometimes ask others, "How's your walk with the LORD?"
© Glenys Robyn Hicks
He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for visiting with me today. I love to hear from you. I may not always be able to reply right away, but I will respond to every comment you leave. Blessings and comfort, Glenys