One cold morning I was driving my car along Parkdale Avenue and I stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. It was quite chilly and the hitchhiker was wearing a black tuque and a long black overcoat. As I opened the door I noticed that the person was actually a woman. I asked where she was going. She gave me a street address and since it was quite close to where I was passing I said I could take her right to the door.
We drove in silence for a few minutes and then she turned to me and asked, “Is there anything that I can do for you?” After a few seconds it dawned on me what she was asking. I told her that I loved my family and had no interest in her offer. I then asked her what had brought her to this point in her life. She told me she had a little girl and was living in someone’s house trying to make ends meet. She said she needed the money. I spoke to her about God and how the Lord Jesus Christ had died for her. I explained that it didn’t matter how she had gotten to this low point in life; that she didn’t have to keep on living like this. If she would turn to God, He would definitely deliver her and her child.
We neared her house and I pulled the car over. I took out my wallet and gave her twenty American dollars. It’s all I had left from a recent trip. I told her to use the money for her little girl – maybe for a nice Christmas gift. She wasn’t sure she would be able to do it as there was pressure for funds elsewhere. I asked her to consider what I had said and offered to help in any way that my family and I could. I asked her to call on the Lord to get her out of this mess. She thanked me, got out of the car and closed the door. I’ve not heard from her since.
When Jesus Christ started his public ministry, he made the following declaration:
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…”
God sent the Lord so that man could be freed from bondage. The Lord’s ministry was a ministry of deliverance. Just like the young lady that I met, are you in a hole that you can’t get out of? Are you lonely? depressed? Have you lost all hope? If this is where you are, then isn’t it time to turn things around. Haven’t you just about had enough? Then decide now to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for It Is Written,
Romans 10:11
“For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed [disappointed in their expectation].”
Don’t let the winds of unbelief, apathy and indifference toss you around. Turn to God and His Word and allow Him to set you up on high. Embrace the opportunity for a peace that the world can never take away. Grab a hold of eternal life and let nothing dissuade you from your resolve to walk in newness of life. You’ve got nothing to lose except your doubt, worry and fear. And then, once you’ve taken this bold yet simple step – reach out to a world that desperately needs your love and concern.
Isn’t it time you came in from the cold?