Baptism Weekend Devotional Day 4
DAY 4 – Thursday
Daily devotional
Read
Mark 16:15, Act 1:8
Ask
The great command! How do we feel about sharing the Gospel? Do we trust him?
Reflect
The idea that faith should go to the ends of the earth was a revolutionary idea. This wasn’t part of Jewish thinking in the days of Jesus. They had worked so hard at separating themselves from the rest of the world, now the great commission—how would it play out? If we read Acts, we can see how the early church was born. All who believed gathered in Jerusalem growing in number by the day. That is until they were under persecution and ran for their lives. Who knew that the gospel would spread in such a way?
At the Alpha Conference this year, we got to hear from a woman called Emmy Wilson who works for the church Holy Trinity Brompton in London. She told us about taking Alpha into the prison in Exeter. She watched the Holy Spirit work on these hardened criminals and soon they were transformed. In the UK, prisoners are often moved around because the prisons are worried about uprisings. So these men took the Holy Spirit with them as they were moved around. Each time they got the prison chaplain to have Emmy lead Alpha, and she did at each of the prisons in the UK. She watched hundreds of lives change because of the glorious gospel.
How do we feel about sharing the gospel? Proverbs 16:9 says the mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. To his disciples Jesus says “Follow me”. He always leads. Do we trust him even though we have literally all of our days planned out? (I say this lovingly.) My friend Kjersten prays over her daily calendar and asks God where she should leave space for what he has planned for her that day. Wow. I want to learn from her!
I have many moments at work to share the love of Christ. It is almost always after I have invested in my clients and there is a relationship. Investing in people makes you credible. Respecting them is essential. Sharing the Gospel should always be a conversation, not a WWF smackdown. Jesus lovingly and compassionately meets people right where they are at. He always has.