WITNESS 'IN OUR SLEEP'

 

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Two weeks ago I mentioned building up our ‘mental muscles’ by practicing the fundamentals of soulwinning so that we could essentially witness the love of Jesus to others ‘in our sleep’.

The goal of any habit that we want to become a regular part of our lives is to practice it over, and over, and over again, until we can do it so well, and it comes to us so naturally, that we don’t even have to think about it.

Two things that always bothered me growing up were the following. 1. I never learned to roller skate. 2. I never learned to swim. When invited to roller skating and swimming parties I always felt embarrassed that I wasn’t able to do either.

Years ago while still living in Berlin, Ohio I went for about four months straight to a roller skating rink every week because I was determined to learn to roller skate.

I’d like to say that I became proficient at roller skating. I did manage to stay upright longer than ten seconds, but roller skating never became my forte.

In 1990 I moved to Ashland, Ohio for my new job. I didn’t know anyone there, so it was the perfect opportunity to try to learn to swim. I went to the YMCA and signed up for a membership, and immediately started taking swimming lessons. I felt self-conscious when I saw little six-year olds swimming better than me, but I was determined, and went at least three times a week to take lessons and practice. After all, what else did I have to do in a new town?

In the past I never thought it was possible for me to learn to swim. My swimming instructors, however, had hope for me, and it payed off. The biggest hurdle, and it was a huge hurdle, was learning to breathe in between strokes.

I literally stood in chest-high water and repeatedly put my head straight down under water, blew out my breath, and turned my head to the side to take in a breath. I felt sort of foolish doing it, but I did this over, and over, and over again.

Finally, after about four months of this routine, it started becoming more and more natural for me to breathe in between strokes. I started improving to the point of being able to swim laps. I gained a couple of swimming buddies in the process, and we laughed and joked as we swam along together. I shocked myself that I was able to do something I had previously thought impossible.

What about witnessing? Can we practice it over, and over, and over again so that it becomes so natural for us that we can literally do it in our sleep . . . or so that it becomes fun for us to witness to other people, and we can gain new friendships we once never thought possible?

Two examples I had of this in the last week. I met one man who was reading a book that I thought looked like a Bible. I asked him about it, and he said it was a combination Hebrew reading book with English translations.

This man said that he believed in the Old Testament, but the New Testament where it talked about Jesus was not as important . . . or it was merely an extension of the Old Testament. I told him of my love for Jesus, and he minimized the importance of this, and that it was more important to serve and learn about the God of the Old Testament. I wasn’t able to finish my conversation with him as he had to leave.

I met another lady while waiting at a car service area. She was a young black lady who I really came to like when she talked about her job, her mother, and various other topics with another lady and me. This young lady was full of life and had a smile that lit up a room. I was disappointed when she was called out to the service desk, and I didn’t have a direct opportunity to share the gospel with her.

But as I went out to pay for and get my vehicle, there she was standing outside smoking. I had my homemade Roman Road tract ready, and I pulled alongside her and handed it to her, shared about it briefly, and she gave me a big smile and said “thank you”.

So, I think there’s great joy in overcoming obstacles that we once thought impossible to overcome. And I fully believe that being able to ‘witness in our sleep’ is one of them.

See you next week,
Arlen