'Show and Tell': A Devotional That I Wrote

        " . . . out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." - Luke 6:45                                                                                                                  
     As I watched a newscast, reporting on a Florida city's issues from hosting young adults reveling in Spring Break from schools all across the country, a city councilman there was being interviewed for this story. Looking gravely concerned, he described lawless and out-of-control occurrences, unleashing evil there in his hometown, coming from this annual invasion. This included a current video someone posted online (seemingly shared for 'entertainment' value) showing a completely "passed out" 19-year-old female being gang-raped, on the crowded beach, in broad daylight.
     I will often pray for those involved, as I see and hear about the things that are happening now, both locally and around the world. Many of these situations are very sobering, deeply troubling, even heartbreaking; almost overwhelming. As a Christian, I also see the need for, and pray regularly for, worldwide spiritual revival, convinced especially by what I have learned firsthand (sometimes the hard way) that true purpose and real joy come from living by God's wise, caringly prescribed, way for us to best live this life on Earth.
     Beyond praying for God Himself to do more to intervene in human circumstances directly, however, each of us must also remember or realize that we are by far what He uses (as 'the body of Christ') to reach out to those still living lost lives! We are to help bring them into a true relationship with the Lord, and meaningful fellowship with other Believers, as we, also, join together in unity with God and one another. Through receiving Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the vital spiritual and social transformations begin, for every true Believer. Healthier and holier values and behaviors come to replace even the disturbing and depraved ones, by the working of the Holy Spirit; immediately for some, over time for others. Ultimately, by loving God, and loving others, much sin is prevented from ever taking place and damaging or destroying the lives that it would have otherwise touched. Loving Him, above all, and loving our neighbor as our self, are to be our priorities in life, according to Mark 12:30 - 31. Jesus called these the two greatest commandments.
     While God does interact with humanity directly in various ways, including through miracles, Christ declared that His signs and wonders would also follow His Believers, as we go into all the world sharing the Gospel, in order to confirm its Truth. The real challenge of His command to us is in whether or not we will choose to act on it, at all, by showing His Love and telling His message to others, as we are given the opportunity to do so. By sharing our Faith with the yet unsaved, one of God's most awesome miracles, which we may witness then, would be that of their own salvation, as the Lord draws them to Himself through our willing obedience to Him in that circumstance.
     Already a part of most everyone's learning experience, 'Show and Tell' is when the teacher instructs their students to share something that is personally meaningful by showing it to others while also telling them about it. If others had never let us know about the new life we could live by receiving salvation through Jesus Christ, where might we be now? Possibly, "passed out" drunk, or gang-raping someone, or even a bystander that thinks those things are 'entertaining', and posts them online. The Bible tells us that God desires that NONE of those who are lost in the deep darkness of sin and hopelessness would PERISH from their not repenting and being saved!
     What will become of our hometown and our world if we don't each do our part to reach out to those around us with the Christian message? Self-consciousness, self-absorption, or selfish silence will not be an acceptable explanation or excuse, when we stand before God someday, regarding our accountability to His Great Commission to all of us (Matthew 28:16 - 20) to tell those throughout the world about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ; beginning right where we are. We choose daily, by either our inaction or action, to be a part of the problem or of the solution to the things going on in this world today. Certainly, we know, for ourselves, that His Good News alters the bad news, and transforms lives! Now we need to, are even Called to, SPREAD THE WORD!
     The Teacher is requiring that every one of us take part in this assignment He has given us. So, what will YOU share with others TODAY, for 'Show and Tell'? Our Teacher is asking us this.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:14