by Eddie Smith
It was late that cool starlit autumn night Alice and I were
hungry. We had driven all day to get to our next revival meeting when we saw the lights of a busy truck stop in Alvin, Texas. We agreed it wasn’t five-star dining, but it was food.
We pulled into the parking lot littered with large tractor-trailer rigs—some parked with diesels engines humming—while their drivers refreshed themselves inside.
As we walked in and sat down, a young waitress brought us menus and ice water, and after a few minutes she returned to take our order.
Once she had turned our order in to the cook, she came back and eavesdroped on our conversation. You know—she wiped the same table three time as she leaned inquisitively toward us.
Finally I noticed her interest. Since she really wasn’t busy, I called her over to our table. “My name’s Eddie, what’s yours?” I asked. She said her name was Mary.
“Can I ask you a couple of questions Mary?”
“Sure.” She said, almost thankfully.
I pointed to my glass and said, “Can you tell me what this is?”
A bit perplexed at such a strange question, she answered, “Sir that is your glass.”
“What’s it for?” I continued.
“It’s to hold your water, of course.” She explained.
“What’s this?” I pointed to the empty plate.
“That’s your plate, sir.” She answered with a bewildered expression on her face.
“And what is it for?” I pressed.
“Sir, that is to hold your food.” She said a bit more indignantly.
Then I pointed to her and asked, “And Mary, what are you for?”
“What do you mean, Sir?” she asked.
“I mean, for what purpose were you created?” I asked.
“Uh, I don’t know.” She confessed.
“Mary are you as perplexed as I am that you know what the glass is for and you know the purpose of the plate, but you don’t know why you’re here?”
She nodded in agreement.
“May I tell you a little made up story?”
“Sure,” she said, now fully engaged in our conversation.
“One day at the big beautiful paper cup factory an equipment malfunction occurred. By the time it was corrected, one of the cups (through no fault of its own) was kicked out of the assembly line and onto the floor.
Soon a deliveryman opened the large overhead door to load his truck. When he did a gust of wind picked up the little cup and threw it unceremoniously out the door and into the street. Within a few moments a passing car squashed the little cup flat.
Later that night a rainstorm blew into town and mudy waste water rushed down the street, grabbed the little cup, washed it into the gutter then into the storm sewer and eventually—well we don’t want to know.
It’s sad to think that that little cup, designed by engineers for a purpose, manufactured at the big beautiful paper cup factory with all its high-tech equipment, never reached its intended created purpose—to carry a cool beverage to quench someone’s thirst.
And Mary, you and I both know people who, like that little cup, God created for a particular purpose. And like you, Mary, they’ve never discovered why they are here. Can I tell you why you were created?
Mary leaned in further and nodded.
“Mary, as the little cup was created to contain a beverage, every man, woman, boy, and girl were created to contain God Himself! Just imagine. God created you in order to live His life through you. As the wind and the water prevented the little cup from fulfilling its purpose, sin has kept you from God and his purpose for your life. If you will admit to God that you are a sinner, repent for having lived life for yourself and ask Him to come into your life and be your Lord and Master, He’ll come in right now. Would you like to do that?”
She nodded and reverently dropped her head to receive Christ. We had the privilege of praying with her as she discovered her life-purpose.
A week later we stopped in to check on her. The moment she saw us she ran to the kitchen to get the cook. “He wants to know how to receive Jesus like I did last week.” She joyfully explained. We were delighted to introduce him to eternal life in Christ Jesus as well.
The gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is to turn men, women, boys, and girls from self-satisfied, self-centered, sinful living to forgiveness and eternal life under the lordship of Jesus Christ. It is the completion of a rescue mission to snatch them from captivity to the dominion of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Col. 1:13-14); not merely for their sake—but for His!
Paul writes, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29). The Father wants His house filled with children who love Him and want to fellowship with Him forever. Evangelism isn’t as much about us as it is about the father-heart of the King!