Two Reasons on the Same Pew

   This morning as I was standing in the back of the church watching the people coming in, I recognized a man that I have played tennis with a few times. He is new in town, and, although I had seen him in the worship service once before, we had never really talked about religion, or Christianity, or anything along that line. Our talk on the courts was all tennis, or about his new job in town.

   Noticing that he was alone, and that there was an empty seat beside him, I went down and asked if I could sit with him. What could he say? So, I sat and we participated together.

   As the service moved into the message and David talked about Galatians 2, I found myself wondering how my friend was taking the message. Was it meaningful to him? Was he responding to it? What was his status as a Christ follower?

   Then I caught myself and realized what the real question should be. How was I taking the message, and was it meaningful to me? What was my response to it, and where was I in relation to real discipleship with Jesus?

   Now, true concern for others and their relationship to God is good, and God could have placed me in that particular spot just so I could interact with my friend, either then or later on, but just possibly He could have had me listening to the message because it was for me, too.

   It is too easy for me to think about what God needs to do for someone else, when He wants me to realize my own life's shortcomings. The message did not exclude either one of us

   Wow, two reasons on the same pew.