Thumbin' For A Ride...

I was on the way to a meeting this morning and I passed a guy looking to hitch a ride.  Honestly, I felt that I should turn around and pick him up.  I didn’t hear a vocal voice from God, but I felt like the Holy Spirit nudged me.  The Bible is clear about the Holy Spirit’s presence in a believer’s life, and I try to obey when I feel it move.  Just for the record, any stories that I blog about are totally God’s doing and I want absolutely no credit.  ALL the glory goes to God.  Anyway, I turned around and picked the man up.  This kat had a beard of Zeus goin’ on and he was rockin’ a jean jacket makin’ no apologies.  (Like any of that matters)  I introduced myself and asked him where he was going and he said, “Name’s Kurt, goin’ to Wal-Mart.”  A lot of people would say, “What the heck are you thinking?  People are crazy these days and hitch-hikers kill people.”  I know as soon as my mom reads this she is going to call me and tell me not to do it again.  I know that advice is because people love me and don’t want to see me hurt, BUT I love Kurt and I don’t want to see him hurt either.  (Eternal Punishment)  Sure, just because you are a hitch-hiker doesn’t mean you are not a believer, but regardless it is an opportunity to help someone out.  Plus, you have a captive audience because they aren’t going anywhere until you take them there.  My fear of being hurt by someone, has been muffled by the scripture (aka THE WORD OF GOD) that I read.  (Psalm 46, 91, 125 - Acts 5:29 - Acts 5:38-39 – 2 Corinthians 1:10)  There is a possibility that I could be robbed, hi-jacked, or killed.  Honestly, a martyr’s death would be an honor.  If someone kills me because I am trying to show him or her the love of Christ, oh well.  I could think of other ways of dying that are just lame compared to dying for Christ.  Besides, one of my Christian friends will get fired up and evangelize even harder because of my death.  People might even accept Christ because someone tells my story.  The glory of God has been shown through the death of others all throughout history, DUH.  Moving on, Kurt said that he needed to deposit some money in the ATM, so I asked him what he did for a living. The ice had been broken so I asked Kurt if he knew Jesus and he said, “No not personally.”  BAM!!!  That was the reason that the Holy Spirit nudged me to pick Kurt up.  He didn’t know Jesus Christ PERSONALLY.  I gave Kurt a quick version of what Jesus did for us on the cross and told him how Jesus had worked in my personal life.  (The ride lasted 4 minutes)  I asked him if he would like to come to church with me sometime and he kind of changed the subject, so I didn’t push the issue.  I don’t know what has happened in Kurt’s life in the past, or what is going on in it now.  One thing I do know is, that Jesus wasn’t picky about who he served!  Jesus WASHED THE FILTHY FEET OF JUDAS, a man that He knew would betray Him.  God calls us to leave no stone unturned, so I want to try to impact EVERYBODY that I can with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Why be ashamed about it.  (Romans 1:16)  If you are calling me radical, then I am guilty as charged.  Jesus was radical, the disciples were radical, and Paul was radical, so I am just following those that have come before me.  I just can’t stand the fact of me crossing someone’s path and them not hearing the TRUTH, if I’m given the opportunity.  Kurt didn’t accept Christ today, and I’m fine with that.  God just used me to plant a seed in his life.  I told Kurt that anytime I see him, I will give him a ride and I dropped him off at Wal-Mart’s door.  I’m not sweatin’ it, because I know that if I see him again that I have another shot at sharing the Gospel with him.  Sooner or later that double-edged sword is going to cut his heart.  How many people do we know that are just living their lives just thumbin’ for a ride, just like Kurt?  I’m not even saying physically thumbin’ for a ride; I’m talking spiritually thumbin’ for a ride.  They need a ride to get to that destination, which is Jesus.  We drive past people like this every day.  We have the car; we have the map, yet they are still left on the side of the road with their thumb up in the air.  Let’s fuel up our cars, highlight our maps, and give someone a ride.  You know where they NEED to go; all you have to do is stop…