One day this week I was at our local fellowship by myself, which is quite unusual, as I normally have at least one or two other guys with me. While working on a future sermon, a uniformed policeman walked up and knocked on the window. My immediate reaction was to feel quite nervous about the upcoming conversation, but I said a quick prayer and opened the door. My other thought as I approached him was, “Great, the one time I’m here alone a cop comes!”
Not knowing what to expect, I welcomed the policeman in and asked how I could help. He asked if we sold New Testaments at the church. I told him we are willing to give free copies to those interested in reading, but we don’t sell them.
After pointing him to our stack of New Testaments and giving a quick overview of the order/message of the book, he noticed a complete Bible on the desk. He asked if the two books were the same.
I then tried to explain the Old Testament and why we generally only give people the New Testament to read (easier to understand, less expensive, etc.). He said he wanted to read the whole Bible and asked if he could buy it from me.
I told him that if he was seriously interested in reading the Bible, we would love to give it to him as a gift. He graciously accepted both a New Testament and a Bible as gifts, wished me well, and left.
While I am not certain of his sincerity, it was an encouraging conversation – and one that could have gone in a much different direction.
Praise God for His grace to me in that moment, and for His gracious work of drawing sinners to Himself! Please pray for this policeman to read God’s Word, be convicted of his sin, trust in Christ, and follow him all his days!
