The Man in the Store December 2, 2015

Read Matthew 22:34-40

Ephesians 6:8      because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

Matthew 16:27     For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

1 Corinthians 12:13     For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body--whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

2 Corinthians 5:10     For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Colossians 3:11     Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Colossians 3:24     since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

When I was roaming around the music section in a store one day, an older man in a motorized wheelchair cart almost ran into me. “Sorry about that,” he said to me. “How are you doing today?” I was surprised for a second, but I responded and we went on to have a long conversation there in one of the aisles at the store.

The rest of the day I thought about the very nice man. I wondered whether I had made a difference in his day. Then it dawned on me that he had made a big difference in my day. The idea that someone would stop in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a large store and talk to a young teen made me think. God can use any person to touch others’ lives, regardless of age, personality, intelligence, faith tradition, or any other trait. Whatever the circumstances, we can always pick up someone’s spirits. Even just smiling or listening can make someone’s day. I have resolved to watch for these opportunities that God has set out for me.