Stuck on Repeat

I was browsing the aisles of the Dollar Store one day, looking for prizes for my class, when I noticed voices coming from another aisle. A woman had asked someone in the next aisle over if they liked graham crackers, and then proceeded to recite a recipe for some kind of dessert.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but then I heard her say exactly the same thing to another person, and then she came down my aisle and said the same thing to me.

Her tone and manner were pleasant, and she had a smile on her face the whole time, but the repetition of the exact wording, tone, and inflection indicated that something was wrong. This sweet woman’s brain seemed to be literally stuck on repeat, and she couldn’t help sharing what was foremost on her mind over and over again.

That happened years ago, and I don’t know what brought that lady to mind this week, but as I remembered her apparent affliction, I wondered: if my brain were stuck on repeat, what would I walk around telling random strangers in the store?

You and I can’t control the physiological aspects of a situation like this lady’s, but I can’t help but think that what we fill our hearts and minds with makes a difference.

For example, a dear elderly friend of mine has dementia, and no longer knows me when I visit her. But as sad as it is to introduce myself as if we’ve never met, I always come away from a trip to her care home greatly encouraged. Why? Because even though she’s forgotten so many things, she still remembers her most important thing: her relationship with Christ.

I want to be that kind of old lady: one who radiates the joy of the Lord, and who talks about her Savior at every opportunity.

But that doesn’t happen by accident. That elderly lady spent more years than I have been alive speaking to everyone of her Savior and cultivating a heart of Christlike sweetness. That’s why she has held onto that part of her for so long.

If we want to be Christlike examples and bold with the gospel when we are old, we have to make those things a consistent part of our daily lives.

Now, I know it’s not easy. I am constantly convicted by my own reluctance to share the gospel with those around me—It’s not that I dislike talking about God and what He has done for me, it’s just that I can be painfully shy and often use that as an excuse when I should use it as a reminder that I need God’s help.

But witnessing was never meant to be something we have to force. It’s a command to obey, surely, but our goal should be to have such a heart full of love and gratitude toward God that, like that lady in the store, the “recipe” for salvation should be constantly on our hearts and minds.

We should be so excited about the Lord, that we can’t help but talk about Him to everyone we meet!

Sound fanatical? Consider the words of Peter and John when they were told to stop speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus:

“Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

You and I, too, have seen and heard amazing things about God, and have personally experienced His saving, sanctifying work in our own hearts and lives. Don’t you think we should each be able to come up with something exciting to share about the Lord?

So, consider this a challenge from one who is learning right along with you: start becoming today the faith-filled, rejoicing, bold with the gospel Christian you want to be when age creeps up on you. Put the truths of the gospel and of Who God is “on repeat” in your heart, so that they will naturally flow out in conversation with others.

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” 

Ecclesiastes 12:1