Ye Are My Witnesses
"Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God." (Isaiah 43:10-12)
We often struggle to understand our purpose in this life. We wonder what we should be doing, and how we can best invest ourselves. The answer is very simple - too simple for our finite minds to easily grasp perhaps. We think that we must climb some great mountain peak, locate a mysterious guru perched at the top, and ask him to tell us the meaning of life. God has already made it quite plain for us in His Word, however. He says of man, "I have created him for My glory." (Isaiah 43:7) We have been called to be God's witnesses. Of what are we to testify? That God is God. We are to testify of all that we have witnessed that God is doing in our lives. We are to testify that He is alive in this world and involved in the affairs of men. We are to testify that God has indeed sent His Son into the world to save us from ourselves. We are to witness that the blood of Jesus Christ does, in fact, cleanse us from sin, and purge away our guilty conscience. We are to tell the world that God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, can change a man or a woman from their original selfish, carnal state into the resemblance of His own dear Son.
Saint John, in his first general letter to the churches, said that he and the other disciples of Christ had seen with their eyes, and handled with their hands, the Word of Life. He said, "(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:2) In other words, they had experienced first-hand the new life that is in Jesus Christ, and they were now anxious to share what they had seen so that others could experience it with them also.
Once we have discovered, and embraced, the thought that our lives are meant to witness and proclaim the glory of God, and of His Son, then it is amazing how it can change our perspective and the focus of every facet of our lives. It means that the things that enter my life are no longer meaningless, random occurrences, but are rather opportunities for me to show God's glory. We have a tendency to make everything "about us." Woe is me. Nobody has it tougher than me. This is an inconvenience to me. I have no time for this. They have no right to treat me like that. Instead, we should be asking ourselves, "How can God be glorified in this?" Trials always happen to us for a purpose. Not everything that happens to a child of God is good in and of itself, but you can be sure that all things work together for good to them who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
If it were left up to us, we would pray that everyone would always be delivered from difficulties. Sickness, temptations, financial needs, trials - we would see them all removed from our lives, and from the lives of those we love. It is those very things that work faith in us, though. It is in those things that we can bring glory to God. If Daniel had not been thrown in the lion's den, God could not have shut the lions' mouths. If the three Hebrews had not been thrown in the fiery furnace, God couldn't have quenched the heat of the flames. If David had not faced Goliath, God could not have defeated him with a pebble. Whether in death or in life, Beloved, our lives should bring glory to our God.
We all know the story of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. Before Lazarus died of the sickness that he was suffering, however, Jesus said of His friend, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." (John 11:4) We know that Lazarus did die, but we also know that he didn't stay dead. Jesus knew what He was going to do to begin with. God was going to be glorified by Lazarus' sickness and subsequent death, and many souls were going to be saved as a result of this miracle; but Lazarus still had to be the one to experience this trial. What would have been the outcome of the story had Lazarus become embittered because Jesus didn't come to him immediately when He heard that he was sick?
We are His witnesses. Oh, how we need to look for ways that we can testify of His faithfulness in our lives. People are watching us. When we profess Christ, we turn on a bright light, and folks examine us closely to see if God can make a difference in us. They want to know and see that God can do what we say He can. Our lives testify much more loudly than our words do. We can say we believe anything; but what we do, how we act, and the choices that we make testify plainly of what we truly hold dear. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:20)
We often struggle to understand our purpose in this life. We wonder what we should be doing, and how we can best invest ourselves. The answer is very simple - too simple for our finite minds to easily grasp perhaps. We think that we must climb some great mountain peak, locate a mysterious guru perched at the top, and ask him to tell us the meaning of life. God has already made it quite plain for us in His Word, however. He says of man, "I have created him for My glory." (Isaiah 43:7) We have been called to be God's witnesses. Of what are we to testify? That God is God. We are to testify of all that we have witnessed that God is doing in our lives. We are to testify that He is alive in this world and involved in the affairs of men. We are to testify that God has indeed sent His Son into the world to save us from ourselves. We are to witness that the blood of Jesus Christ does, in fact, cleanse us from sin, and purge away our guilty conscience. We are to tell the world that God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, can change a man or a woman from their original selfish, carnal state into the resemblance of His own dear Son.
Saint John, in his first general letter to the churches, said that he and the other disciples of Christ had seen with their eyes, and handled with their hands, the Word of Life. He said, "(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:2) In other words, they had experienced first-hand the new life that is in Jesus Christ, and they were now anxious to share what they had seen so that others could experience it with them also.
Once we have discovered, and embraced, the thought that our lives are meant to witness and proclaim the glory of God, and of His Son, then it is amazing how it can change our perspective and the focus of every facet of our lives. It means that the things that enter my life are no longer meaningless, random occurrences, but are rather opportunities for me to show God's glory. We have a tendency to make everything "about us." Woe is me. Nobody has it tougher than me. This is an inconvenience to me. I have no time for this. They have no right to treat me like that. Instead, we should be asking ourselves, "How can God be glorified in this?" Trials always happen to us for a purpose. Not everything that happens to a child of God is good in and of itself, but you can be sure that all things work together for good to them who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
If it were left up to us, we would pray that everyone would always be delivered from difficulties. Sickness, temptations, financial needs, trials - we would see them all removed from our lives, and from the lives of those we love. It is those very things that work faith in us, though. It is in those things that we can bring glory to God. If Daniel had not been thrown in the lion's den, God could not have shut the lions' mouths. If the three Hebrews had not been thrown in the fiery furnace, God couldn't have quenched the heat of the flames. If David had not faced Goliath, God could not have defeated him with a pebble. Whether in death or in life, Beloved, our lives should bring glory to our God.
We all know the story of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. Before Lazarus died of the sickness that he was suffering, however, Jesus said of His friend, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." (John 11:4) We know that Lazarus did die, but we also know that he didn't stay dead. Jesus knew what He was going to do to begin with. God was going to be glorified by Lazarus' sickness and subsequent death, and many souls were going to be saved as a result of this miracle; but Lazarus still had to be the one to experience this trial. What would have been the outcome of the story had Lazarus become embittered because Jesus didn't come to him immediately when He heard that he was sick?
We are His witnesses. Oh, how we need to look for ways that we can testify of His faithfulness in our lives. People are watching us. When we profess Christ, we turn on a bright light, and folks examine us closely to see if God can make a difference in us. They want to know and see that God can do what we say He can. Our lives testify much more loudly than our words do. We can say we believe anything; but what we do, how we act, and the choices that we make testify plainly of what we truly hold dear. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:20)
Comments
Post a Comment