Lost Sheep

 9/1/15                    Martin                     26

I love meeting fellow believers while reaching out with the Gospel.  Though complete strangers moments before, I enjoy the fellowship we have in Christ when we realize we are both brothers in faith.  That’s what happened with Martin, 26, whom I met while at the park for outreach.  Martin came to faith in Christ as a teenager with the help of a strong youth program at his church and some faithful mentors.  But now during his 20’s he has been like the seed among thorns in Jesus parable, which He said “refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.”  Martin had moved away from his church and attempted to live as a Christian on his own, without fellowship and falling away from regular Bible study and prayer.  His job had long since gotten in the way of Sunday morning worship, and instead of inspiring his non-believing friends with faith, they have been pulling him away from his relationship with God instead.   

However, he has just moved back in the area and is ready to make a fresh start with God.  I felt like our meeting was God-ordained for such a time as this in his life, and was able to encourage him back into the disciplines of the Christian life, to watch out for the common arguments against faith prevalent among his unbelieving friends, and to set an example for sharing his faith by actually reaching out to him there at the park rather than just talking about it.  Jesus spoke of leaving the 99 to find one lost lamb, and I shared in the joy of the Father in finding just such a lost sheep in Martin.