“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the  most of every opportunity……so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Colossians 4:3,6

 Am I able to be used by God?  What would you say to someone who had one minute to live?  It’s a question we have to ask ourselves and be prepared to answer!

My friend Scott told a story about an experience he had a few years ago.  As he was driving down a familiar road a tire came towards him bounding through traffic and bouncing 20 feet high in the air.  As he approached the crest of the hill, he saw an accident had just taken place.  The crash was so horrific, it tore the tire off the car and it rolled a quarter mile away.  The car was driven by an 18 year old girl, who had just graduated from high school.  As she was turning left into the restaurant where she worked, a car came towards her at a high rate of speed hitting her broadside.  It knocked the car into the parking lot of the restaurant.  This was in the era before cell phones, but since Scott worked for the county, he had access to a phone and called the police and rescue squad.  A crowd quickly gathered!  The windows of the car were smashed and the girl driving was gasping for breath.  Now what?  Scott didn’t think she had a minute to live.  He pulled up alongside her and walked to the car.  She was turning blue!  He had one minute to tell her the good news.  What to say?  “You are going to see God quickly, if you haven’t given your heart to Christ, there’s still time.”  The gospel isn’t that difficult!  She took her last breath and met her Maker.  I don’t know if she accepted Christ at that moment, only heaven will reveal it.

I thought about that story and wondered if I were in such a situation, would I be able to tell a stranger God’s plan of salvation?  Would I be able to tell them in 30 seconds the simple truth that God loves them, He died for them, we have sinned, trust Jesus as their Savior.  There would be no time to explain the Four Spiritual Laws, the Bridge Illustration or “Do you have a spiritual belief?”  Those are all wonderful ways to speak to unbelievers about Christ, but where do you begin when someone is dying before you and they don’t know Him?  God’s Word says to “make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”  Ephesians 5:16.  You don’t have to learn to give the gospel, you just have to share it!

Ask the Lord for opportunities; ask Him for an open door to share Christ with a neighbor, an acquaintance on the street or on the bus, a seatmate on an airplane, the cashier in your local grocery store, that colleague at work who seems so opposed to the gospel.  God can and will open that door of opportunity and bring the conversation to a point where you can speak a word for Him.  There just may be a time when you have to give a split 30 second gospel, so we need to be ready!

As Scott says, it takes 8 words:  God loves, we sin, Jesus saves, we repent!

 Your friend, Jean