WAs it really for sale?

Here's something that I bet many of you didn't know. That's a John Deere F735 diesel tractor  with a 60" cutting deck. If you're in to John Deere equipment then maybe you did know that, but here's something I guarantee you didn't know: This tractor is for sale!

I was chatting with our Camp Manager yesterday when he casually mentioned that this tractor was for sale. Noticing that there wasn't a "For Sale" sign on the mower, I asked some follow up questions. "How are you selling it?" "Have you posted it anywhere?" "Do people know that it's for sale?" He admitted that he had not posted it on the internet, there indeed was no "For Sale" sign to be posted and most surprisingly, no one was even aware that the tractor was for sale. The following thought popped into my head, "Is this tractor really for sale?" If no one knows, if there is no "For Sale" sign, if it's not been posted on the internet or anywhere else for that matter, then the answer is, "No". Upon this realization, I offered to snap some photos of the tractor and post it on Craigslist. Within just an hour or two we had received 5 phone calls or emails about interested parties. It's amazing the difference that can be made when a little intentional and pointed advertising is put forth.

This whole idea caused me to think about my life in perhaps a different light. How often do we claim  something that isn't really true. As much as our camp manager said that this tractor was for sale, as much as he thought it was for sale, as much as he wanted it to be for sale, it wasn't really for sale until it was actually put up for sale. Too often in our lives, we claim that we live differently from those around us, we claim that we are Christ followers and we claim that we pattern our lives after Him: but do we really? John 13:35 says, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." 2 Corinthians 2:15 says, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." Is it obvious to those around you that you are with Christ? Is it clear to those that you work with or hang out with that you are for Christ? 

We can interact with the same people everyday. We can be convinced in our minds that we are for Christ. We can know in our hearts that we are for Christ. But what difference will that make in the end? People will pass by you everyday and assume that you are just like everyone else unless you tell them otherwise. Our camp manager's tractor looked like every other tractor that was out there, except this one was for sale: and now everyone knows! Who knows about you?

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