Key Bible Verse: If you can help your neighbor now, don't say, "come back tomorrow, and then I'll help you" (Proverbs 3:28). Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 3:13–17

At the office one Wednesday afternoon, I'd been conversing with an employee. This fellow had been trying to tell me about the heartbreak he was experiencing with his teenage son. But rushing to conclude that conversation, I'd hardly listened to him. I was hurrying to leave the office in time to get to church and fulfill my commitment to go out for visitation.

As I drove to church, I felt a rock in the pit of my stomach. My heart convicted me to the point of tears. It was as if God was saying to me, "Wake up, Kent! Evangelism and ministering to people aren't activities; they're your life. Start listening and talking to people every day."

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against visitation or church programs. We can't survive without the fellowship of our church family, without our pastors and teachers preparing us to live the Christian life outside the church walls.

But that night God said to me "Don't go to talk to someone you don't know when you haven't even talked to the person at the next desk who's crying for help."