What do people see when they look at us? Sometimes it is hard to hide how we really are. Sometimes is it very easy. In the following, I will share three encounters that all happened at Walmart. These encounters illustrate that no matter what we are doing, we affect other people.
Number 1
I had just come home from a youth mission trip to a foreign country. Early that morning, I picked up a few essentials from Walmart. I put my products on the moving belt leading to the checker. The checker said in a happy voice, “How are you doing today?” Then he looked at what I was buying: Pepto Bismo, Tylenol, and Preparation H. I didn’t say anything and as he rung me up, he said, “I hope you feel better soon.”
Number 2
I had stopped at Walmart on a mission of mercy. As the checker picked up my dozen red roses, she said, “Oh, these are pretty!” Then she looked right at me and said in a much too loud voice, “You’re apologizing, aren’t you?” I lost the color in my face. How did she know.? As I left she said, “I think she will like them.”
Number 3
Normally, when I visit Walmart I dress appropriately: lounge pants, torn tee shirt, flip flops. But one day, while coming home from a funeral, I stopped in for a few essentials. As I walked down the aisles in my black suit, white shirt, silk necktie, and shiny shoes, people would see me coming and press themselves to the sides. I felt like Moses walking through the Red Sea. Although I may have looked important, I was just there to get some over-the-counter medicines or some roses for my wife.
Lesson
When we go through life, what are we communicating to others? Are we demonstrating we are regular people with good days and bad days, or are we demonstrating we are dressed to kill, we are invincible? Better than either of these two possibilities, can people tell that we have been with Jesus?
I like the words of this old hymn. I hope we can answer this question positively:
Do we live so close to the Lord today,
Passing to and fro on life’s busy way,
That the world in us can a likeness see
To the Man of Calvary?
Can the world see Jesus in me?
Can the world see Jesus in you?
Does your love to Him ring true,
and your life and service, too?
Can the world see Jesus in you?
Pastor John Bryson