Many years ago, before God opened my eyes to the truth, the way, and the life, I found myself in a hardware store picking out a gift for my husband. My expertise with tools is limited to knowing where the toolboxes are stashed in the house and identifying a handful of tools like hammers and screwdrivers. On a very good day, I may not confuse a box cutter with a knife. So what was I doing in a hardware store? I was trying to give him a real surprise.
While I was staring cross eyed at a sea of colorful power tools, trying to figure out what would make the perfect gift, a gentleman walked up and started a conversation. He sounded like he knew a great deal about power tools. He suggested a router something or other. I was grateful for the advice and grabbed it. But before I could spin around to leave, he told me that he does mission work spreading the gospel. He said that he had been to some interesting places, though nothing too exotic. In his spare time, he carved inspirational verses onto stones and gave them away. He offered me a small stone with a partial verse engraved on it.
“My Lord, in Him I will trust”
-Psalm 91:2 (partial)
I still have that little stone. It sits on my computer desk. When I have the urge to think less of people or undermine their intelligence, I grab it and ask Jesus to intervene. I think about the kindness of that gentleman often. He not only helped me pick out the perfect gift, but he gave me a stone worth cherishing. I want him to know how grateful I am. He may never read this, but my gut says I will see him on the other side, and when I do, I am going to give him a big hug.
I think it will be a busy time, saying thank you and giving hugs to all the people who led me gently to our Lord and Savior. And then there are those who have prayed for me without my knowing. I am sure of this because I regularly pray for those who have not yet found our good Lord, and I have to believe that if someone as imperfect as me can think to pray for another’s salvation, then surely someone out there was doing the same for me once.
I feel compelled to call this stranger my Ebed-Melech. Ebed-Melech is a character who appears in Jeremiah 38 and 39. When Jeremiah had been thrown into a cistern and left to die, Ebed-Melech came to rescue him. Not that I am as important as Jeremiah, but Ebed-Melech was obedient and loved his fellow man enough to put himself in danger to save him. I cannot say that I was saved that day in the hardware store, but it was the moment a door was cracked open. A door to freedom. A door to everlasting life and joy.
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures”
-1 Corinthians 15:3-4
There are many disciples of Jesus among us, preaching, praying, and walking the walk. Their desire to fulfill the Great Commission makes it possible to make Heaven crowded. Someday, I hope my walk with our Lord and my talk about Him will help add a few drops to the mighty ocean of Heaven. I hope you can be someone’s Ebed-Melech today. God bless you.
Dear God,
Please help me be as obedient as the saints You send into my life. May I glorify You in everything I do and say, bringing people to You, where they belong. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.