I was listening to a sermon one Friday night when a story stopped me completely.

It was about John Harper, a pastor who was on the Titanic the night it sank. As the ship went down and people were dying all around him, Harper did not panic or fight for his own survival. He moved through the freezing water, asking one question to every person he could reach: ” Are you saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

A wave would carry him away. Then another wave would bring him back. And he would ask again. He asked one man three times. The third time, the wave carried Harper away for good. That man later stood up in a church after some years and said quietly: I was John Harper’s last convert.

When I heard that, I cried.

Not because the story is powerful, though it is. I cried because the question quietly asked me about my own life. Here I am with a warm house, a full stomach, safety, comfort, and every resource I need. What am I doing with all of it? Am I telling anyone about God’s love, or am I choosing comfort, silence, and the convenient belief that God will somehow handle it without me?

John Harper had nothing left. No platform, no time, no safety, and no guarantee he would survive the next minute, yet he still chose to spend what little he had on someone else’s eternity. That is a life so surrendered to Christ that even death could not redirect it from its purpose.

We do not have to be on a sinking ship to live that way. Every day carries ordinary moments where one word, one genuine act of care, or one quiet question asked with love can plant something eternal in someone’s heart. Your smile can be a testimony. Your presence can open a door. Your willingness to simply ask how someone is really doing can be the beginning of something only God can finish.

You do not have to have all the answers. John Harper did not give a sermon in that freezing water. He asked one question and trusted God with the rest.

Ask God today to show you the person around you who needs to hear something of His love. He will surely show you, and when He does, go with grace. He will put the right words and fill you with the Holy Spirit, so that you can transform their life and bring them closer to Christ.