Look Around You

 

“Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” – Eph 5:16, NLT

 

As I was reading my morning devotional today, I was struck by something that was said in it.

 

“People don’t need the light of our devices to shine on them. What they need to see is the light of Jesus shining through us!”

 

I would go farther. People don’t need our non-professional advice, they don’t need our political opinions, they don’t need our contrived empathy and they don’t need our insincere speech about how we’re going to pray for them when we have no real intention to do so.

 

If you are a disciple of Jesus, you probably have had the Holy Spirit quietly prompt you to speak to someone before. You may have acted on it or maybe you didn’t but I’m pretty sure that if you are a follower of Jesus that you have experienced this.

 

We have all been commissioned to spread the Gospel of Christ, but sadly many of us have fallen into a belief over the years that somehow this is the church’s role, or our pastor’s role or the paid Christian professional’s role.

 

Have you ever asked God to provide you with daily opportunities to reach others for Christ or to be an encouragement to someone?

 

I have become more and more aware that we must be intentional if we hope to be of use to the Lord and His work. We cannot drift through life hoping that a happy accident will occur at any given moment.

 

We cannot afford to be Sunday only Christians. The local church cannot survive as an inward focused entity. We must always be looking outside ourselves for ways to serve the Lord by serving others.

 

And this doesn’t have to be during any specific time of our days. We can be this way at play, at rest or at work.

 

Again, this doesn’t just happen by accident, it happens by intention. And that intention must be transferred and transformed into action. Look carefully in scripture to see what Jesus did as he went about his days. He encountered people sometimes during the most mundane of moments (like the woman at the well) and he turned them into eternity changing moments by pushing into those moments and getting involved.

 

Now you may say to me, “Mike, that would be an interruption to my day. It would take me away from whatever else I was focused upon.”

 

I must ask you. I must ask myself. What deeper and more meaningful purpose do we have as followers of Christ than to spread the good news?

 

Our lives on this big blue ball we call Earth are so very short and this thing called life is obviously terminal so why do we play with this thing called Salvation?!

 

It’s high time that we, the Church, stop playing nice when it comes to the consequences of sin. I have said it many times lately… It’s time we crash the gates of Hell and take by some prisoners for Christ!

 

My encouragement for you and I today is this. Go out into your day with intentionality. Ask God to bring people across your path that need to hear from Him through your obedience to the calling we all have which is to share the Good News! I believe God will faithfully do exactly that and send people your way.

 

Seize the day!

 

-        Mike <><