First Impression

First Impression

You only ever get one shot at this. It is one of those things in life where there is no second chance, no rerun, no correcting any mistake made. In sales circles, it is said that you have just seven seconds in which to make a favourable one in a meeting. Certainly, as a Christian, in those first few seconds, you can set yourself up or you can put yourself down as someone worth talking to. It is one of the most potent moments in your life and in the life of the folk you are meeting – and it is as true for the others as it is for you. It is called the “first impression”.

Upon meeting new people, most of us simply want to be liked. There are other impressions which come along later, but the first one that most people want to make is that of a likeable person – one to whom I can talk or maybe even be friends. Is that you, I wonder? It was me for the first sixty plus years of my life. Then something changed – in me not in anyone else. Just in me.

I suddenly realised that “hail fellow, well met” was not the impression I really wanted to make. It had served me well for years, but suddenly it had lost its gloss and I wanted to impress differently. It’s all God’s fault because it was He who gradually filtered His wishes through the fog that is generally my brain and thought pattern. I realised that, as I grew a little bit less and He grew a little bit more, something or someone else mattered more than me. Whenever I was meeting someone for the first time, I realised and found myself thinking that I wanted Jesus to be seen in and through me. I realised that I couldn’t give the impression I wanted to give – but Jesus could do this through me.

I wanted people to know, immediately, that I wasn’t just a nice man, or even a loving man, but that I had and carried something of God in me all the time. That something had to be Jesus of course, but I had no idea how to do it. All God had said to me was, “Come deeper”. I realised this was going to be something of a dying to self and I hope I have done some of it in order to let Him be seen in me. I even found myself asking, for every person I met, if they also knew Jesus as their personal friend. I have no idea if I have succeeded – you’ll have to ask those around me who know me best.

The enemy is well named of course and I know if I’ve slipped up a little bit because he is immediately on my case trying to condemn me; trying toget me to beat myself up for every little slip. That he frequently makes me stop and think shows how far I still have to go.

How about you? What sort of first impression do you give? Has God or is God calling you deeper? It will not be easy – there is always a price to pay for going deeper with God but it is always so worth the effort. Is the first impression a good one or a bad one for Jesus? Does He shine through or is it you that still shines through. Wonderful though you may be, Jesus is always better. Why not commit to spending an extra minute or two with Him each day. Not talking or praying or even doing anything except listening. God always has something to say to us if we listen. When that extra minute or two takes effect, you may well find that Jesus is showing a little more and yourself a little less.

Think what a better first impression that could make.