Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Thursday Cheryl and I flew to Lubbock and back for the funeral I mentioned. The service was a wonderful celebration of what God did for Roy (and all of us) in sending Jesus to be our Savior. It was good to see his family and a lot of other friends we had not seen for a while.

After an early morning flight, we stopped in Lubbock for breakfast. As is our custom, we told our server, Victoria, that we were going to pray for God to bless our meal and we were going to pray for her as well. Was there anything in particular she would like us to pray about?  She said she had a friend back home in Hawaii, Gweneviere, whose boyfriend of 5 years complained of a severe headache. She took him to the hospital, and doctors said he had a very rare and untreatable form of cancer. He died that night. Victoria was having a hard time not being able to visit with her. We told her that we were in town for a funeral. And then we held her hands as we prayed. The prayer went something like this.

“Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the safe journey we had this morning. Be with us as we gather to remember Roy and your goodness to him in his life. We also ask you to bless our meal. We pray for Victoria and her friend, Gweneviere. May your strong presence comfort them in this difficult time. Help them to cling to the promises that you kept in coming here to pay for our sin so that we could know your love, mercy, forgiveness and comfort in our lives. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.”

She thanked us and walked away quickly. She was very attentive during the meal, and when we were done, she came by to speak with us again. She said she had already taken care of our meal for us. I told her that was not necessary, but she said it was already done. She also told us she went to the kitchen and cried after we prayed with her, and then thanked us for being such special people. We told her we were just trying to share God’s love with her. She walked away, and we left her a tip that more than covered the cost of the meal, along with a short handwritten note from Cheryl.

That night, after we landed back in Dallas, we took a shuttle to our parking lot. It was crowded. A man, woman and young boy sat next to us. Cheryl was interacting with the boy a bit and visiting with his mom. We had been holding hands the whole time. Then Cheryl rested her head on my shoulder. The lady asked, “How long have you been married?”  I replied, “43 years.” She said, “That’s what I want. I can tell you love each other a lot.”  I said, “God has been very good to us.”  And we visited a bit more.

We often fail to realize the impact our actions have on those around us. Two simple scenes illustrate the opportunities we have to share the love of God in Christ in our everyday conversations.

And please don’t think I am bragging. Absolutely not. You see, Cheryl and I know the wretched sinners that we are. So does Jesus. But we also know what He did for us to be forgiven. And we want others to know it, too. We live in the confidence that He is with us now and we will be with our Lord forever. So we try to live in a way that will let people know, too, so we take advantage of the chances we have to share His good news.

1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

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Cheryl and I will be co-hosting a trip to Greece next year with Donna Snow:  “Walk in the Footsteps of Paul.”

Links to the registration and brochure, along with previous devotions, can be found at revmattil.org.  If you want more information, email mike@revmattil.org.