A Christmas Gift

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8

Just an interesting ‘God’ encounter I had the other day during this Christmas season.

I work as a broker to assist people in selecting their health plan during the annual open enrollment period. I often go to enrollment locations that are usually housed in public buildings – libraries, hospitals, social service buildings.

Given the nature of the locations, I do not overtly share my faith unless I see a ‘natural’ (Holy Spirit) opening. However, for people looking for health coverage who are dealing with serious medical issues, they can get emotional. If there is the ability to be discrete, I’ll offer to pray with them. No one has ever said no.

The other day I came to my desk at a Social Services location and found a Gospel tract with a solid salvation message on my desk. Someone had come into the building and put them on all the desks. None of the staff seemed to care or know where they came from. I thought, Fine. I found it here, I’ll leave it here.

I went through the day until I helped a young woman enroll. She was intrigued by the picture on the tract and asked me what it was. I said that I had found it here this morning and it’s a Christian pamphlet that gives an explanation of the ‘Gospel’ – God’s good news of salvation.

She started to skim through it. I asked for her password to get into her account and as part of her password was her birth year of 1979. I stopped, looked at her and said, “Wow. You know, that is the very year I did what is described in that pamphlet. I committed to follow Jesus and he has proven to be real and trustworthy ever since.”

She responded, “Really?” as she began to more intently look through the tract. I completed her enrollment. There were a bunch of people cued up and waiting for me so we said goodbye and she put it down. I briefly repeated the gospel message of the gift of salvation and it being the very thing to fill the void in our lives.

Then she reached for the pamphlet and asked, “Can I have that?”

What a great question! Of all the things we could ask for in the Christmas season, how great was it to hear someone asking for the thing of greatest value?

I smiled and nodded. “I think someone left it here just for you.”

She smiled back as I added, “It’s a gift, but the real gift is what God offers inside.”

She headed off smiling and now I pray, “Holy Spirit. Complete the work that you started and open up that woman’s mind and spirit to your truth and wonderful joy to receive your greatest Christmas gift of all.”

I love when Jesus not only knocks on the door but sets things up in ways only He could arranged for. What an amazing God, using one of his followers to lay the seed, for me to water it and for Him to prepare and lead just that person He had in mind to consume it. Awesome!

Makes for a very Merry Christmas.