By John Ed Mathison
Director, John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries
Montgomery, Alabama
Michael Hawthorne is from Somerdale, New Jersey, and drives an eighteen
wheeler. He travels across the country. He delivers cargo.
He also delivers more than cargo. During his driving experience, he has delivered three babies! That is what I call real multitasking!His mother is a midwife and taught him something about delivering babies. His first came in the backseat of a car in California in 1999. Because of that experience he decided to keep a medical birth kit in his 18 wheeler cab in case it happened again.
It wasn’t long before he was in Maryland in 2010, and had the opportunity to deliver a baby. Just last month in Texas the opportunity arose again. He safely delivered a baby. He says, “I feel like I’m a doctor in a mobile hospital unit on 18 wheels.”
Regardless of what we drive, we are in the business of delivering babies – spiritually. The Bible says in John 3:3 that you must be born again. There are a lot of spiritually pregnant people in today’s society who need someone to help with their Kingdom birth.
When is the last time you helped lead a person to Jesus Christ? When did you help perform a “birth”? That is really what believers are here for.
Michael decided to carry a medical birth kit with him so he would have it with him at all times. He never knew when the occasion might arise. Most people did not call him or advertise that they were ready to give birth. He was just there and ready.
The birth kit that you and I need is first our own personal experience of knowing Christ. The knowledge that we need to have is simply the knowledge of what we have experienced in our own rebirth. The best kit that we have is God’s Word. It gives very clear instructions about how to lead a person to Christ.
Whenever Michael delivers a baby, he is not allowed just to leave that baby in the back of the car or on the street. He has to get the baby to some kind of hospital care unit that can help nourish it until it can begin to live on its own and grow. If he delivered a baby and then just put it on the street, he would be arrested.
Leading people to Christ is not simply helping them say a few words for a decision, and then leaving them. They must be put into the care of some kind of Christian community that will nourish them, teach them, and help them grow to be a reproducing disciple.
Each of us is traveling around each day. Not all of us are in an 18 wheeler, but we are traveling in some manner. Each of us sees opportunity everyday for people who need to be reborn. Have your kit ready – and let God assist you in the delivery.
Delivering new born people into the Kingdom of God is the most exciting event in life. Every Christian is called to do it! Be alert to birth opportunities!
This blog post appeared on the John Ed Mathison blog, August 8, 2012
For His Glory 