I saw him as I pulled into the parking lot of my favorite gourmet restaurant…

OK… make that the parking lot of the local fast food joint.

How would I describe that day?

Cold. Very cold.

The temperature was around 5 degrees and the wind chill hovered at minus 16.

I stopped and waved at him to cross in front of me.

“He must want to get inside quickly,” I thought….

He didn’t move.

He stood there smiling…grinning actually… and motioned me forward.

I waved at him again.

He motioned me forward again.

Well, I thought, I’d better get out of his way so he can get inside.

Why would anybody stand in the cold to let a driver in a warm car pass?

Inside we stood next to each other in line…

His face still covered by a grin…

Like me, he ordered the weekly special.

Unlike me, he talked and joked with the woman taking his order.

He waved at the manager….

Who waved and smiled and exchanged a joke…

A third person handed him a soft drink…

He smiled, called her by name and switched his conversation to Spanish.

I looked back at the counter.

Everyone he had touched was smiling…

One man had changed the atmosphere of the entire restaurant.

Who, I wondered, could he be?

Why would he be that friendly with people he knew only from their role in a fast food restaurant?

Still grinning, he carried his tray to a table, sat down, bowed his head and prayed.

I don’t know this man’s religion.

But I do know that in that fast food restaurant, he was living a Christlike life …

He was treating others exactly as Christ calls us to treat them…

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted…Ephesians 4:32

His words were words of grace…

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  Ephesians 4:29-32

He practiced his faith in full view of others…

And professed his faith through prayer…

If only we could all live that kind of Christlike life …

All to the glory of God…

… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.  Matthew 5:16