"Do You Brush Your Teeth?"

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And He said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3, NIV)

Pastor Jack Hayford was traveling across country and, due to the time schedule and route, used an airline different from his preferred carrier. As a result, there were no perks available, no upgrade certificates, no preferred seating. In fact, the only seat the flight had available was the very back row, middle seat. Wonderful.

The aisle seat was occupied by a businessman, and in the window seat there sat a young lady who was somewhat mentally diminished. Jack tells how he purposed to bury himself in his notes and get the two-and-a-half hour flight behind him. About ten minutes after take-off, he felt the young lady nudging him with her elbow; three or four little jabs to get his attention.

"Yes?" Jack asked as he turned toward her.

"Do you brush your teeth?" she asked with childlike innocence and a sheepish grin.

"Yes," Jack answered, "yes, I do brush my teeth."

"That's nice, 'cause if you didn't brush your teeth," the lady said, "they would fall out; and that would not be good." She then turned and stared out the window. Jack turn and stared at his notes.

About ten minutes later, another nudge of the elbow followed by a second question, "Do you smoke cigarettes?"

"No, dear," Jack replied, "I do not smoke cigarettes."

"That's good," the young lady answered, "because then you won't die of cancer."

Once again, after another ten minutes, the elbow and a third question, "Do you love Jesus?"

"Yes," said Jack, "I do love Jesus very much."

"That's good, 'cause then you will go to heaven when you die. And that's a good thing."

"Yes it is," Jack answered, and then turned back to his notes.

About ten more minutes passed, and the lady elbowed him yet once more, and this time said, "Ask that man sitting next to you if he brushes his teeth."

Suddenly Jack realized that the Lord had set him up with a divine appointment, but it would require real humility to follow through with it. And he did so. Elbowing the business man in the aisle seat, Jack asked, "Do you brush your teeth?"

The result was that for the remainder of the flight Jack was able to share Christ with a total stranger, whose world would never be the same from that day forward.

Here's a thought.....find someone today, walk up to them and ask, "Do you brush your teeth?"
You never know where it may lead!
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