Would you Like to Walk with Me?

My office was particularly stuffy and warm last Friday afternoon.  I had read and reread the same page about three times and couldn’t concentrate so decided at about 3pm I had enough.  I slipped on my sandals and headed outside for a walk around Ben Lomond Crescent.  I’ve measured it before and it is pretty close to exactly one kilometer from the front door of our church building all the way around the crescent and back to the front door.  It makes for a relaxing little afternoon walk, it gets the blood circulating and the lungs working a bit harder, and often provides a chance to pray or think about some issue I’m working on as I stroll along.   Back in Canada (7 years ago we moved to New Zealand this weekend) in the little town I pastored in I would do the same thing.  Many times I would wander into my friend Tim’s Hardware store and we would chat about whatever, usually have a good laugh or two, before I would head back to my office.  Frequently I would run into somebody who needed to chat or go for a coffee or set up a time to get together.  However, here in Auckland, this is a much rarer occasion.  Friday as I left the building a thought went through my mind wondering if I will see anyone or even speak to anyone on my walk around the block.  As I strolled along within about 3 or 4 minutes I met an East Indian man who asked me for the time, and wondered out loud to me where the closest bus stop was so he could catch it into the Highland Park Shopping Centre.  I gave him my best guess as to where the nearest bus stop was and he was very grateful for the assistance and we parted ways.  I had taken no more than a few steps away when I heard him call out to me, “would you like to walk with me?”  However, since we were going in opposite directions I thanked him for his kindness and continued on my way.  As I walked away I pondered the man’s invitation to walk with him. It was a sincere request to walk together even though we were perfect strangers.  It was so unexpected that it caught me off guard and now I wish I would have just turned around and walked along the way with him discovering who he was and perhaps even getting an opportunity to share my faith.  The bible does say to be ready or prepared to share the gospel at all times.  I felt I had disobeyed the Lord by just continuing on my walk without taking up the offer to walk with this man.  I whispered a prayer of repentance to the Lord and quickened my pace hoping to catch him at the top of the crescent but when I arrived there, there was no sign of him anywhere.  How often does it happen to us that God brings people across our pathway that he wants us to speak to or listen to?  As a Christian shouldn’t I have been more inclined to ask him to walk with me and I would show him which way to go?  My little encounter with this man revealed to me a spiritual sluggishness in my response to him.  I confessed this to my Lord and thanked Him for gently showing me my need to wake up and be more in tune with what He was doing around me. Like Jesus who said in John 5:17 “My Father is always working, and so am I.”, I need to be better prepared to minister or listen or pray or show kindness or speak the Gospel in a much more ready fashion.   Help me Lord be more like you in this way.  Amen.