I was unlocking my front door and noticed a little green lizard crawling over our doormat. I bent down, picked it up and started playing with it. I was letting it try to bite my finger (I guess you can call me “easily entertained”). My next door neighbor’s little daughter walked up to me and asked what I had cupped in my hand. I told her I caught a little lizard trying to sneak into my house. She didn’t believe me, and I stood amazed at the four-year old girl’s explanation of why lizards can’t live on people’s doormats. She wanted to know what I really had in my hand. I told her it was a little green lizard in my hand, and it really wasn’t living on my doormat; it was just passing through. She still didn’t believe me. I tried to explain to her that lizards could jump from plant to plant and run across the ground. I continued to tell her that if she didn’t study in school and eat her vegetables, the lizards would come in her room at night and nibble on her ears. She was temporarily fooled, but then switched back to her state of disbelief. She finally got tired of my antics and said, “Why don’t you just show me the lizard?”
If you look at the world today, it doesn’t take long to realize that people are asking the same question. Christians posses something - a promise, a hope, a message of eternal life that is given when a person turns their life over to Christ. Christians - and preachers especially - spend their lives trying to teach the truths of the Bible, to share the message of Christ, and to read stories of Jesus’ life in hopes that a non-Christian will one day accept the message and turn to the one true God.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think preaching and teaching and encouraging people to read the Bible is a great thing; but if you ask me, non-Christians are asking a different question. They don’t care how many verses of the Bible you have memorized, how many parables from the Bible you can tell them, or how many different creative ways you use to try to present the gospel message as if we were casting out fishing bait, waiting for them to take the hook. In my opinion, they aren’t asking Christians to tell them or explain anything; they are asking us to show them something. Why don’t you show me? Is Christ really great? Is He everything that we claim He is - Savior, sustainer, comforter, friend, Alpha, Omega, Almighty God, Prince of Peace, ever present help in time of trouble? Christians have an obligation to share their faith with others, but words alone are not enough; we need to show them, by living a life for Christ.
-Spending time in the Word-
“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say today will teach me anything. So if I am going to learn something, I must do it by observing and listening to people.” -Larry King
1. In James 2:14-26, James explains that faith without deeds is of no use to the world.
2. In Titus 2:1-15, the old and young, men and women, free and slaves were told how they were to act as followers of Christ and representatives of the Church.
-Hiding the Word in your heart-
Memorize these verses as you continue to learn and study the Word of God daily.
1. James 1:22, “Do not be merely listeners to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
2. Romans 2:13, “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”
No comments:
Post a Comment