Recently, my mother and I went shopping. The store was not busy and we had the clothes department to ourselves. I tried on serval dresses, showing each one to Mom, and then we proceeded to do the rest of our shopping. In another department, a person approached me that I had never seen before. “ I liked the purple dress the best,” was said to me. The comment startled me. I had no idea that anyone, besides Mom, had noticed my trying on outfits. It was a minor incident, but it served to remind me of a valuable lesson. “There is always someone watching everything you do, even when you are not aware of their attention.”
On a planet with literally billions of people, you can be sure of one thing, people are always watching people. In the criminal society, this fact is not overlooked. Many well planned and well executed crimes have been foiled by an “eye witness Charlie.” We have seen him ourselves; reading the paper, waiting for the bus, or just playing in the yard. “Charlie” is always in the right place at the right time.
The criminal element does everything in their power to plan for this unplanned spectator. We Christians, however, have a tendency to forget about “Charlie” in our everyday lives. Fixing the car, buying groceries, or walking in the park. He watches us too! Christ Himself said, “..the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Luke 16:8)
As a matter of fact, “Charlie” gives us one of our best opportunities to witness Christ to others. If, in our everyday lives we profess the nature of Jesus Christ in everything we do, we could witness to thousands of people without ever mentioning salvation to any of them.
What does “Charlie” notice about the lives that Christians live? We talk about the wonderful peace that comes from knowing the Savior; but do we complain about everyday problems? Over and over again, situations present themselves to try our Christianity. Maybe a cashier gives us to much change, and we notice. So does “Charlie.” How do we respond? At work, we smash our thumb with a hammer. What will “Charlie” hear?
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”(Matthew 5:16). In this verse, Christ did not say to let our lights shine in church, He said “before men.” Millions of people will never see the inside of a church building; millions more will never read a Bible. For some people, the only witness of Christianity that they will ever encounter is the life that you and I live day by day. Christ loves the sinner and is married to the backslider (Jeremiah 3:14). In my life, I want to shew forth His gospel; preach His message; and live His word. I want to show “Charlie” that God has changed me from the inside out. He can change “Charlie” too. |
