Tying One On

Yesterday in church, our pastor's sermon contained an object lesson.  At the beginning of the sermon, which was on sharing our faith, some helpers passed out to everyone a small "baggie" with a leather strand and a few colored beads in it.  During the course of the sermon he had us assemble a bracelet by stringing the colored beads onto the leather in a certain order.  The purpose of making this "church craft" was to give each of us a tangible witnessing tool.  When we finished making our "bracelet", the final step was to "tie it on".  (Personally, I am going to attach mine to my wallet, so that I will have it with me most of the time I am "out and about".)

Now, in order to use this tool effectively, you need to share Scripture verses, which each bead represents.1

In the course of the sermon, he told a story, which I will endeavor to somewhat recreate, albeit badly, ... for sure.  If you want a more official version, Wikipedia is waiting for you.  I'll post the link in the Sources section.2

Anyway, the story goes something like this.  This man, a "nobody" really, would go up to people on the street and ask them this:  "Are you saved?  Are you sure that, if you died today, you would go to Heaven?"  Depending on their reaction he would sometimes talk to them further.  Other times, he would walk away, leaving them thinking.  Rather direct.  Rather simple.  But, his direct and simple approach caused many, many people to ponder deeply his question.  And, unbeknownst to this lover of Jesus Christ, a Mr. Frank Jenner, many followed up with Christian clergy and came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

An English evangelist, one Francis Dixon, who had heard many people speak of this "little, old white-haired man" on George Street in Sydney, Australia, who had changed their lives, went to find this influential man.  He found him, in his fifties by this time.  It was the evangelist's pleasure to share with the man, whose name was Frank Jenner, how many thousands upon thousands of lives he had touched...without even knowing it.   Because, you see, those he spoke to directly, after choosing to accept and follow Jesus, impacted many, many more, sometimes thousands more.

Mr. Jenner had had no idea how far-reaching his obedient efforts to share the gospel had been.

Nor do we.

We are not responsible to keep up with the results of our sharing our faith to those who do not know Jesus as Savior.  We are merely commanded to do it.

There are three instances in Proverbs where readers are enjoined to "bind" God's Word to various body parts.  Here they are!  Proverbs 3:3. 6:21; 7:3.  Check the last one out:

Bind them on your forearm;

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Proverbs 7:3 NET

The Pharisees took these words quite literally, constructing small leather boxes called phylacteries, which they then bound to their foreheads and left arms.  Inside each little box were passages of Scripture, written on small pieces of parchment.

Sounds rather extreme to our modern-day Christian culture.  But, maybe not.  Maybe we need to wear our faith on our sleeve more.  Perhaps then it we would be more prepared and less hesitant about sharing it.

Mr. Jenner's method may not be the one God leads all of us to.  But, regardless of the method, let's "tie one on."


Sources:

1    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/89/e2/1f/89e21fcd90bf5bf0eae59a052a02f5df--older-kids-crafts-bead-crafts-for-kids.jpg

2    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Jenner