I Sat With Two Friends

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of
a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the
town-square. The food and the company were both
especially good that day.

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside,
across the street. There, walking into town, was
a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly
goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn
sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart
sank.

I brought him to the attention of my friends and
noticed that others around us had stopped eating
to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of
sadness and disbelief.

We continued with our meal, but his image
lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and
went our separate ways. I had errands to do and
quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced
toward the town square, looking somewhat
halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was
fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call
some response. I drove through town and saw
nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store
and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking
to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've
at least driven once more around the square.'

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into
town. As I turned the square's third corner, I
saw him. He was standing on the steps of the
store front church, going through his sack.

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to
speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty
parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign
from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got
out and approached the town's newest visitor.

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.'

'Have you eaten today?'

'Oh, I ate something early this morning.'

'Would you like to have lunch with me?'

'Do you have some work I could do for you?'

'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from
the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'

'Sure,' he replied with a smile.

As he began to gather his things, I asked some
surface questions. Where you headed?'

' St. Louis '

'Where you from?'

'Oh, all over; mostly Florida .'

'How long you been walking?'

'Fourteen years,' came the reply.

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across
from each other in the same restaurant I had left
earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond
his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and
he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that
was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a
bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never
Ending Story.'

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen
rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong
choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen
years earlier, while backpacking across the
country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona.
He tried to hire on with some men who were
putting up a large tent and some equipment. A
concert, he thought.

He was hired, but the tent would not house a
concert but revival services, and in those
services he saw life more clearly. He gave his
life over to God

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt
the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I
did, some 14 years now.'

'Ever think of stopping?' I asked.

'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the
best of me But God has given me this calling. I
give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I work
to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when
His Spirit leads.'

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not
homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way
by choice. The question burned inside for a
moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?'

'What?'

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on
your back and to show your sign?'

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would
stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a
piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that
certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then
it became humbling to realize that God was using
me to touch lives and change people's concepts of
other folks like me.'

My concept was changing, too. We finished our
dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the
door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come
Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom
I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you
gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me
drink, a stranger and you took me in.'

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you
use another Bible?' I asked.

He said he preferred a certain translation. It
traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also
his personal favorite. 'I've read through it 14
times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's
stop by our church and see' I was able to find my
new friend a Bible that would do well, and he
seemed very grateful.

'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.

'Well, I found this little map on the back of
this amusement park coupon.'

'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure
someone under that star right there needs a
Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated
the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to
the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier,
and as we drove, it started raining. We parked
and unloaded his things.

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I
like to keep messages from folks I meet.'

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to
his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him
to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of
scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have
for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you
and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future
and a hope.'

'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and
we're really just strangers, but I love you.'

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is
good!'

'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone
hugged you?' I asked.

A long time,' he replied

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling
rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt
deep inside that I had been changed. He put his
things on his back, smiled his winning smile and
said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with
his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of
Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you
see something that makes you think of me, will
you pray for me?'

'You bet,' I shouted back, 'God bless.'

'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of him.

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind
blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon
the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As
I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I
saw them... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves
neatly laid over the length of the handle. I
picked them up and thought of my friend and
wondered if his hands would stay warm that night
without them.

Then I remembered his words: 'If you see
something that makes you think of me, will you
pray for me?'

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office.
They help me to see the world and its people in a
new way, and they help me remember those two
hours with my unique friend and to pray for his
ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he
said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will...

'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any
good that I can do or any kindness that I can
show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this
way again.'

My instructions were to send this to four people
that I wanted God to bless and I picked you.
Please pass this to four people you want to be
blessed.

This prayer is powerful and there is nothing
attached. Please do not break this pattern.
Prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There
is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue
to pray for one another. God bless and have a
nice day!

'Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives
and e-mail buddies reading this right now. Show
them a new revelation of your love and power.
Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their
spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain,
give them your peace and mercy. Where there is
self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through
your grace, In Jesus' precious Name Amen.'

I sent this to more than four, but this story is
so touching I felt each of you would enjoy it
greatly.

GOD BLESS YOU MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!

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Thank you.
Rev Dave Whitmer
revdave@myfol.com