The Lucky Bill

Custom Tract Source made a million dollar bill designed for St Patrick's Day. I bought quite a few of them (might not get to use them all) in preparation for tomorrow, thinking that I would have plenty of opportunities to hand them out. Well, not as many as I had planned.

But today, after riding the #19 bus to the end of the line and back and only giving out about 100 (I know, big numbers for some, but, on a bus ride that long, much less than I had expected), I came to Panera, hoping to look up some events for tomorrow before I go to work. As I arrived, I handed out the tracts to those sitting outdoors (I rarely hand out tracts indoors--more businesses frown on that than on the outside), and a lady sitting inside by the window reacted. So I made sure when I got inside that I gave her one, too.

She was delighted, and then she started reading it.

Well, I always intend to hand it to someone who doesn't yet trust in Jesus for their salvation, and this lady sure didn't. When I told her that she would have to keep all the rest of the Ten Commandments perfectly in order to qualify for Heaven on her own merits, she finally admitted that she has at least told some lies in her life--"Fibs count as lies, right?" Um, yeah.

But she didn't like the Bible. I gently explained that the Bible says that "it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the Judgment," and therefore there is no reincarnation. She said that she believes that the Bible was written by men who were, among other things, largely uneducated. I did not contest that with her (I mean, obviously, they could read and write, and that's about all that's required for writing a book), but I did say that it does not matter how uneducated I am if God is telling me what to write down. "But how do you know it's God? ... All the religions of the world have men [adding] their own ideas!" True enough.

She also said that if the truth would cost her her own life, she would lie, because she is not willing to be a martyr. Understandable, but I did tell her that Jesus said that if we are not willing to die for Him, then He will not stand up for us on Judgment Day. She immediately said that she believed in a far kinder Jesus. Well, I reminded her of the saying, "In the beginning, God made man in His own image, and man has been returning the favor ever since." The lady who was with her smiled. I don't know if she is already a Christian or was just enjoying the exchange.

I forget how I ended the conversation, but I wasn't mean. Maybe someday she'll actually take the time to read the Bible. Thanks for praying.