As I was picking up some food today and chatting with the people behind the counter, a guy walked into the store behind me. I asked him what he was getting. He gave his order, and I told the cashier to add it to mine. I always like doing this, as long as they are not ordering for a family of eight!!
I said to him, “Jesus said it is more blessed to give than receive, and I try to pick up people’s meals in line when I am out and about.” He was very, very grateful.
As we were chatting, it turned out he was a believer. So I gave him a copy of One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, One Second After You…, and a gospel tract.
Then he looked at me and said, “Can I ask you a question?” Of course. I love questions. He asked, “What do you think about once saved, always saved?”
I love easy questions! The hard ones might make me stammer, but the simple ones make me smile.
One of the first things I told him was that my opinion is the least important thing on earth. God’s opinion—especially for that question—is the only thing that matters.
John 10:28,29
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Romans 8:38,39
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
I also let him know that it really depends on Who or what you are trusting. If you are trusting in your good works to be right with God, there will never be any assurance of salvation. But if you are trusting in the blood of Jesus Christ that washes away all of your sin, then you can easily be secure and confident as you live your life for the Lord. We do have that freedom in Christ.
There is only so much you can accomplish in less than five minutes with somebody, but our job is just to plant seeds.
Ask God for those divine appointments, and hopefully the nice, simple, and easy questions will keep coming your way!
Until the nets are full,
P.S. If you were a kid raised in the 80s, then you know who Val Kilmer is. But even if you were not, you probably still know who he is. I saw this X post about his passing:
https://x.com/pvtjokerus/status/1907420961819033963
Some people are saying that his role as Doc Holliday in the movie Tombstone was the best performance ever that never won an Oscar. Can you imagine taking your last breath and even thinking about an Oscar?
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
God graciously gave Val a slow death. We will find out soon enough if he was born again.
P.P.S.
