Recently I ran across a post I wrote in 2006 and it dove-tails perfectly with what the Lord is doing in my heart at the moment. I’m offering it to you this morning for your pondering. At the end of the piece, I will share more about the stirrings in my heart of late.
Two separate incidents prompted today’s issue of The Point. My cousin emailed me this week telling me about a statement that had been made in a recent Sunday school lesson that made an impact on her. The statement became the title for today’s issue of The Point — “What on earth are you doing for heaven’s sake?”
The second thing that prompted today’s thoughts is a book I am reading. It was written by a friend of mine, Robert Pinkney. He and I went to Young Harris College together. Robert was the type of fellow that everyone liked instantly. He was always kind and tender and happy and fun to be around. Robert’s book is entitled “Out of the Closet and Into God’s Love” and it is the story of Robert’s journey OUT of the homosexual lifestyle after years and years of bondage. Robert was not a Christian at the time I knew him at Young Harris although he attended BSU meetings. I suppose I assumed he knew Jesus as Lord since he came to BSU. Never assume!!
As I read of the incredible struggles that Robert endured from the time he was six years old throughout his teens and early adulthood, I was extremely convicted that I never asked Robert about his salvation. I never spent enough time with Robert to find the hurt and pain that lay beneath that happy-go-lucky exterior that the world saw. What on earth was I doing for heaven’s sake? Not much! I am embarrassed that I never shared Jesus with Robert. Thankfully, someone did years later and Robert now knows my Jesus and has a dynamic ministry along with his wife, Kimberly. Isaiah 50:4 (MSG) says “The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people.” I didn’t do such a great job of using the well-taught tongue that God had given me when Robert desperately needed encouragement and the salvation Jesus offers.
As you and I go through life, there are people all around us who need to know Jesus—people who are thirsty for the forgiveness and peace that can only be found in Jesus. Those people may be at work, at school, at Baptist Student Union meetings or even sitting next to us in the pew at church. God has given those of us who are saved well-taught tongues by infusing us with the person of the Holy Spirit. I may not be able to quote every Bible verse on the Roman road, but I can tell others what Jesus has done for me. I can tell someone how Jesus cleaned me up when I was living in a pit of sin. I can tell them how Jesus gives me peace no matter the circumstances of life. I can share with others that Jesus is my very best friend and He will never leave me because He died for me and now lives in me. You can do the same thing, my friend. We don’t have to have a certificate from a witness training class in order to tell others about Jesus.
People are dying and going to hell while we assume they know Jesus because they seem happy. It is time we get serious about Jesus and let other people know of our relationship with Him. It is time that Christians came out of the closet. So, I ask you—What on earth are you doing for heaven’s sake? In the end, what we do for heaven’s sake is really all that will matter.
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Last week I finished reading Joel Rosenberg’s latest book entitled, Implosion. The question the book asks is whether or not America has gone past the point of no return. Will she implode, never able to return to her status as a world leader in economics, politics, morality, and military strength? Rosenberg asserts that America’s only hope at this point is to return to God, while making hard decisions on the economic front.
He challenges the reader to do something every Christian should already be doing….witnessing to others….sharing our faith. He tells that early on in his walk with the Lord he began ask God to give him one opportunity per month to share his faith. Just one. God has been faithful to do that for many years because God commanded us to share Christ. Not every sharing results in a person praying to receive Christ, but every sharing likely plants a seed.
Maybe I am the only one, but I will confess that I do not share Christ like I should. Rosenberg’s challenge has hit a tender spot for me. From now on, I will be asking the Lord to open my eyes to opportunities to share Jesus. One opportunity per month. One chance to tell what Jesus has done in my life. One possible new believer in Jesus each month.
Think about it….if each of us reading this shared Jesus with one person each month…..flitter, there would be a revival in America and across the world! Are you game? Are you willing to be obedient? I invite you to join me.
