I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint
restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and
the company were both especially good that day.
As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the
street. There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be
carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a
well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed
that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads
moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief.
We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my
mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had
errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced
toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the
strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again
would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of
him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.
Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me:
'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once
more around the square.'
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I
turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on
the steps of the store front church, going through his sack.
I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to
him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the
corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I
pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor.
'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.
'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'
'Have you eaten today?'
'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'
'Would you like to have lunch with me?'
'Do you have some work I could do for you?'
'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city,
but I would like to take you to lunch.'
'Sure,' he replied with a smile.
As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface
questions. Where you headed?'
'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..'
'How long you been walking?'
'Fourteen years,' came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each
other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was
weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet
clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was
startling He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt
that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.
Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times
early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the
consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across
the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona... He tried to
hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some
equipment. A concert, he thought.
He was hired, but the tent would not house a con cert but
revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly.
He gave his life over to God.
'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord
telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'
'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.
'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me
But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's
in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out
when His Spirit leads.'
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was
on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned
inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'
'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back
and to show your sign?'
'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and
make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and
made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But
then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch
lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.'
My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and
gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to
me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom
I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food,
when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me
in.'
I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another
Bible?' I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled
well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite..
'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.
'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our
church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that
would do well, and he seemed very grateful.
'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.
'Well, I found this little map on the back of this
amusement park coupon.'
'Are you hoping to hire on there for a while?'
'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone
under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm
going next.'
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the
sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square
where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started
raining We parked and unloaded his things.
'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked... 'I like to
keep messages from folks I meet.'
I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his
calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And
I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the
plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and
not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'
'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really
just strangers, but I love you.'
'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'
'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged
you?' I asked.
A long time,' he replied.
And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my
new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been
changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile
and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem .'
'I'll be there!' was my reply.
He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign
dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned
and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will
you pray for me?'
'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'
'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.
Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong.
The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and
hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency
brake, I saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly
laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought
of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night
without them.
Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that
makes you think of me, will you pray for me?'
Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me
to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me
remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his
ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I
know I will...
'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I
can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I
shall not pass this way again.'
(Author Unknown or is it?)
My
instructions were to send this to four people that I wanted God to
bless and I picked you. Please pass this to four people you want
to be blessed.
This prayer is powerful
and there is nothing attached. Prayer is one of the best gifts we
receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue to
pray for one another. God bless and have a nice day!
'Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and e-mail
buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your
love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit
at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and
mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence
through your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'
I
sent this to more than four, but this story is so touching I felt
each of you would enjoy it greatly.
GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!
