“…in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…” 1 Peter 3:15

I had crossed the line! Having just received “The Look” from my wife, all I could do was raise my hands and voice, in feigned surprise, and say, ”What?” But it didn’t work. I was guilty and knew it! But I also KNEW I’d be doing it again…and hopefully soon!

It was Sunday after Church, and we were heading to a restaurant for lunch to beat the Baptists! After spending time with other Believers, I found myself back in the Covid 19 world. Approaching the entrance of the restaurant, I came across 4 bicycle riders as they were about to enter as well. Being at least 10 years older than me, they were covered from head to toe (it was 95 degrees) and wore gloves and full face masks. When I got close, one biker literally jumped out of the way! THAT was when it happened!

One of the evils of this so called pandemic is that everyone is treated as if they have cooties! Personally, I don’t like it! With no one being within 20 feet of us, that someone was ME! In a flash what I THOUGHT erupted from my mouth! “Hmmmm…you protect yourself from a low chance of catching a virus, when you most certainly are going to die from SOMETHING! Why don’t you go to church?” Their only response was an angry huff!

After ‘The Look,’ my wife said, “That was mean.” As I prepared to enter self defense mode, I paused to give that statement some thought with, ‘was it?” And if it was, was I intentionally so? Since I had just interjected Jesus House (and therefore Jesus) into my ‘anti-cootie’ jab, I found it important to NOT paint Jesus with the cootie brush! MAYBE I had made the biker THINK!

In reading the Gospels, Jesus was treated as if He had cooties everywhere He went. And it wasn’t because of His looks or smell! It was because of His message. Which leads me to want to analyze how I can deliver that same message in the most effective way!

There’s a lot of information in the Bible verse today. I am called and commanded, by the Savior of the world, to be prepared in every situation, to have a response to people WANTING know WHY I am a hopeful guy! Just how bold can I be? Do I need to always wait until I’m asked? Do I go where I’m not wanted? What if where I am going is dangerous? Can I LEARN how to speak better ‘before’ I actually speak? Just how dangerous can I be? Hmmmmm…I think I need to have a Bible study on this one!!!