September 6

“…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  —ACTS 1:8

Is there a genuine Christian who is not burdened by failure in witnessing for Christ? We regret missed opportunities; are ashamed of our timidity, and sometimes feel insincere because of our lack of compassion.

Many are apprehensive because they think it’s their job to bring people to Christ, but their thinking would be wrong. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). It isn’t well rehearsed rhetoric of a slick presentation that brings people to Christ. God uses us to introduce Christ, but they come to Christ by the Holy Spirit who does a work in their hearts that draws them to Him. 

On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the people and the first thing he did was tell them about Jesus Christ. “He was crucified, buried, raised again from the dead and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. And this Jesus you crucified, God has made Lord.” When Peter finished speaking, Acts 2:37 says that the people were “cut to the heart”, and they were compelled to ask, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Their hearts were profoundly moved, not because of Peter’s preaching, but a consequence of exposing them to the righteousness of Christ. They became aware that… “Something is wrong with me.” 

There has to be that moment in which the Holy Spirit is involved in such a way that He reveals what we’ve never seen before, both in ourselves and in God, and we recognize it as truth. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “No one cay say, ‘Jesus is Lord’, except by the Holy Spirit.” As Christians, we are workers together with God, not for God. Working for God says, “I’ll go and I promise I’ll do my best.”  As workers with God we are dependent upon Him to do the convicting, the revealing and to bring people to Christ. 

Jesus didn’t ask for salespeople. He asked for witnesses, and we can only be witnesses to what we know. We are not asked to know everything, and the extent of what we know may be very little, but the remarkable thing is that regardless of how incomplete or inadequate we think our witness to be, it is the task of the Holy Spirit to take it into those whose hearts He is preparing, and cause it to germinate and come to life. If we can grab hold of that, our Christian lives will be an adventure.

PRAYER: Dear Father, in my witness for You, help me to rest in the fact, the consequences are not up to me, but to You. I pray, Lord, that your Holy Spirit prepares many hearts to receive You.

TO REFLECT UPON: Am I looking for immediate results in my witness for Christ, or leaving it in the hands of the Holy Spirit?