To God Be The Glory - Christian Bookstore

We recently went to a Christian Bookstore to peruse the aisles and see if there was anything worth purchasing with our 25% off coupon that we received in the mail. As we arrived, a man greeted us by asking us not to step on the freshly painted parking lot lines. His crew has just finished painting the area in front of the store.

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

We were in the store until about 9 pm and we left with coupon still in hand (well, in my wife’s purse.) As we were walking back to the car, I noticed the painting crew taking a break and felt the urge to speak with them. Elaine began strapping our daughter, Sarah, into her car-seat while I popped the trunk to fish out some Gospel tracts.

There were four guys on the painting crew, three sitting at the back end of the trailer and one in the truck. I casually walked up to the three at the back and asked how long they had been working out there that night. They thought it over for a moment and replied, “Since about 7 or 7:30.” I then asked them if anyone going in to or out of the store had shared the Gospel with them in that amount of time. The guys looked at one another and said that nobody had. When they realized this, it shocked them so much that I could see the one guy’s jaw drop.

I apologized about that and told them I wanted to make it up to them. The fourth guy came to the back of the trailer as I began handing each of them a Gospel tract. The main guy then told me that they were all Christians who attended Calvary Chapel Cleveland. I was overjoyed to hear that they weren’t in danger of heading to Hell. I offered each of them some more tracts so that they could give them to people that weren’t saved. They gladly accepted the extra tracts. After talking for a few minutes, we all prayed together and I went on my way.

Was my effort to share the Gospel in vain because they were Christians? Of course not, it was an opportunity to encourage these guys and to equip them with Gospel tracts so that they could fulfill the Great Commission! Had I not attempted to share the Gospel with these guys, I would have missed out on a tremendously encouraging experience. To God be the glory!