Looking for a lost ring - and sharing the gospel...

While on my walk this morning I noticed a young man on the other side of a four-lane road. He was looking at the ground, and occasionally wondering into traffic. He had a sweatshirt/jacket on with a hood, and was causing some traffic issues (although it’s not a tremendously busy road). There are no houses or businesses in this section of road, so it was very unusual and odd. Since it was close to my turn-around point, and he didn’t look up as I passed by (he was on the other side of the road), I determined to talk with him on my way back, if he was still there. Two minutes further another young man was also checking the street and sidewalk. He was on the same side of the road as me, so I asked him what he was looking for. He didn’t seem very open, but finally said “a booklet.” I asked what color, and he said “black.” I told him I would keep my eyes open, but wasn’t convinced that these young men were out searching the road for a booklet.

On my returned a few minutes later the young man that was looking for the ‘booklet’ had gotten into a pickup truck that was parked in the entrance to a nearby neighborhood. The truck was a newer model truck, but with significant body damage. The neighborhood is a wealthier neighbor, and the truck didn’t seem to be a good fit. Everything was looking very suspicious.

Two minutes later I was back to the “original” young man, who was still on the other side of the road. There wasn’t any traffic at the moment, so I called across the road and asked what he was looking for. His response? “A ring – an engagement ring – that was lost during the heat of the moment yesterday.” I said I was very sorry to hear and crossed the road to talk with him more and help look for the ring. It had snowed in the past few days and there was still quite a bit of snow on the side of the road. Unfortunately, the ring was silver – and would be almost impossible to find.

I talked with him as we walked, slowly watching the ground. I was praying for an opportunity to share, and yet the conversation wasn’t naturally turning to spiritual subjects. After a minute or two, I finally said, “I can’t offer you any good news about the ring, as the only good news I have to give regards heaven and hell.” I asked if he would consider himself a good person, and he was the first one I have ever asked that admitted he wasn’t a good person. I asked if he was familiar with the 10 commandments, and he said he had been raised a Catholic. I asked if God was to judge him based on those commandments on judgment day would he be innocent or guilty, and he said guilty. I asked if he would go to heaven or hell, and he said ‘hell’. I asked if this concerned him and he said ‘yes’. I shared with him the good news of what Jesus had done. As he was openly listening I continued sharing, and gave the illustration of a righteous judge. Turns out he had spent time in Iraq and then time in prison. He was trying to turn his life around. We talked about the importance of reading the Word.

I asked if anyone else had ever shared with him about his soul, and he said a few had. I told him God has been trying to get his attention, and it could be that I would be the last person to ever share with him about his soul. We talked about the value of our eyesight, and then compared it to the incredible value of the ring (which was worth searching for), and saw how the ring paled in comparison to the value of our eyes, and how our eyes paled in comparison to the value of our soul. I shared that if I hadn’t talked with him he could have approached me on judgment day and said “Christopher, why didn’t you share with me? You asked about the ring, and we chatted about the weather – but you didn’t say anything about my eternal destiny!” I knew his name by then, and after talking about ten minutes, shook his hand, he thanked him for talking with me – and he thanked me for sharing with him.