¨Do you have the time?¨
Glansing at my watch I say, ¨Son las cuatro¨. That´s not the reason I was approached. He continues talking close enough to catch whiffs of alcohol. His sunglasses veiling what I already sensed. *The rest was in Spanish*
¨I know god, I know what being rescued is.¨ He talked with uneven motions.
I respond, ¨Do you want to know Jesus Christ?¨
Removing his sunglasses to reveal yellowish-brown eyes — hardly his own — he begins to quote the passage from John 3:16.
¨From John chapter 3¨, I say, ¨have you accepted Christ into your heart as your Savior?¨
Chuckling he responds with, ¨I´m a Satan follower. I read from el libro negro (the black book)¨.
Those of you who are reading this either believe that there exists the devil and God, that there´s some spiritual realm of good and bad, or frankly it´s not something you´ve given much thought to. The Lord hasn´t given us a Spirit of timidity but rather of boldness, He´s given us authority through His Spirit in proclaiming His name with faith, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This being said, I trust in my God in all situations — trivial or desperate. Over all spirits and principalities Christ gives us authority to overcome because He has overcome and is victorious.
….Whether seemingly foolish or not I asked,
¨Are you ready to repent of your sins? Hand over your life to the one true God?¨
He said, ¨Read Matthew 7¨
I was hesitant to respond by being obliging to his request but I turned to the chapter anyhow. A passage on JUDGING OTHERS.
I couldn´t help but wonder how a drunk man of very little education could not just quote Scripture, but quickly recall Matthew 7 when I , being fully sober, didn´t recall what that chapter said. His accusation, by telling me to read this passage, aggressively infers without him having to say anything, ´How dare you say I don´t know god, haven´t I just used Scripture to respond?´
When we ask, Äre you ready to repent?¨ as Christians, we´re saying as well that Jesus´ blood on the cross was shed so that we CAN ask for forgiveness by repenting and through this be released from the bondage of sin and be able to live eternally with Him without condemnation. But when he (this man) hears repentance, he only hears condemnation because in the libro negro there was no Christ on the cross, no freedom, damnation echoes eternally because grace is entirely absent — for only grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ.
At this I felt compassion for this man in his late 30s, who I later find out has been in and out of jail as about as many years he´s lived on this earth. The pastor of the church I´ve been serving and the co-pastor came up to him and began talking to him. I wasn´t able to tell him more about the love God has for him, but we parted — shaking every hand but mine.
I was told by Pastor Martín that he is a male witch in the neighborhood that practices witchcraft. There are many like him here and all over the world.
How can you explain these things, except by accepting the concept that there is a very real battle going on for the souls of men and women? It may not be in your face like it was for me that day, it may be slowly separating you from believers, or by you subtling buying into the idea — why not live for myself and the things that make me feel good? Some of the battling is blantant and other, not so much. Surround yourself with prayer (I could use yours) and with believers, and know the Word, because even the devil and his demons know how to use it.
We have a choice everyday how we are going to live our lives, what we will recognize as reality and what we´re going to live for. My challenge for you is to not allow the trivial strife for comfort or whatever the vice be, lead you down a lukewarm road of complacency and ultimately death. Rise up and live for what brings life through Christ. Be a threat to what steals like a thief in the night, and overcome evil with good.
