Are you keeping that gift I gave you?

I spent many years sharing the Gospel with a friend of mine.

In the early stages of our friendship it was part of getting to know each other.
I attended church, he didn't. What was your background growing up, etc.
We had both attended the same denomination with our families, but it was just routine for both of us as youths.
God was one of many topics we covered over many conversations, but never a focus.
With our wives, we were a great foursome. Then kids. Time passed, we moved to different cities.

He was a solid, family-oriented guy. Fantastic dad, respected business person.
There was just never a time when he asked more than I offered about spiritual matters.
Through the years, Angela and I both grew in our faith, attending bible study, keeping Jesus at the center of our family.  I began sharing the Gospel more openly and proactively with people, wanting to share the good news.

And so I brought it up more often in our phone calls.  Did he ever have questions about Jesus or his relationship with God?  No, everything was just fine. Did he understand Grace?  He'd patiently listen and we'd go on to other topics.  We'd send each other books and music now and again.  On one of those occasions, I had an idea.

He called me to say thank you for a music CD I'd sent him.
"You're welcome," I said. "Are you going to keep it?"
"Well, yeah, I like it," he said.
"We're you planning to send me any money or anything to pay for it?" I asked.
"I'm not sure where you're going with this, but its a gift, right?"

After some of our usual back and forth, I brought it into perspective.
"That's the Grace I've been talking about. It's a gift. You didn't do anything to earn it - it's part of our friendship. I provided it, but you received it. You could have thrown it away when you saw who it was from, but you didn't. And you know there's no cost, there's no expectation to repay it. In fact, you could try to repay me, but then it would mean less, and wouldn't be a gift after all. We'll have our usual ups and downs, but I won't ever ask you to give it back.  That's how it is with God's love."


That broke through where years of other conversations had not. It eventually did lead to the specifics of his personal faith. And though he never shared news of a profession of faith with me, he acknowledged his understanding and that we were on the same page about Jesus.

He's passed away now and I do believe that he took time to think it through, and was prepared to have the conversation with God.  I hope he did. I'm looking forward to catching up with him again when its time. We'll have a lot to talk about!

Is there anyone you've tried to share the Good News of Jesus with, but haven't quite found a way to explain Grace?  Try sending them a CD...

What do you believe?