The Gospel According to You
Men are not reading the Bible today
They’re dashing about in their own reckless way.
Most of them don’t care what God has to say,
But brother, they’re reading you.
What is the gospel according to you?
Can people see that to Christ you are true?
Your neighbor reads your actions and deeds,
What can he read in you?
That last sentence in the poem is a searching question, isn’t it? My husband doesn’t have a local library card; but he will often make the ‘following statement’ after he asks me a question or wants my opinion on a topic. If I pause to think before speaking, he will blurt out:
“I know what you’re thinking – because I can read you like a book!”
Well, that can unnerve a person can’t it! I ofttimes attempt to conceal my thoughts, and then he proceeds to show his library card indicating that he has ‘read me before’ on the subject at hand.
I’m attempting to graduate to a higher level as a concealed informant, but sometimes the transparency of my thoughts or attitudes seems to leak out in my facial expression. I doubt if most of us realize how “readable we actually are.”
Our facial expressions can convey what the inner library is thinking or feeling, can’t they. I’m not saying that’s necessarily wrong, but our facial expression can be a window into our inner attitudes, our feelings, our fears, our joy and even our questioning.
A long time ago, someone shared with me that when I’m trying to really understand a concept or comment that a person has directed my way, that I smile and sort of clinch my eyes shut. I had no idea of what they were saying until I went home and thought about their comment. I positioned my face in front of the mirror and tried to mimic my thoughts as though someone just made a statement or asked a question that required “deep thought.” Sure enough, my lips tightened as if to smile and my eyes moved into “clinch position.”
Talk about “surprised.” I had no idea that my face displayed a large question mark. It was time to have an “about-face.” The expression didn’t foster the best of displays, as I realized it could make the person communicating with me feel as though I didn’t care. When, in fact, I did care and was in “deep thought – that’s all.”
The look on my face left “an impression” and influenced whether or not the other person would continue talking to me. So, if you’re ever speaking eye-to-eye with me, and I have that “look,” you have my permission to say something. Okay!
None of us do everything right. I’d love to introduce the idea of “redoes.” We all need the grace of a “redo,” don’t you think.
We’re all pretty “normal!” Seldom does the activity of our life require an article in the newspaper or an affirmation from the Royal Family or accolades from top officials. Most of our lives are around 1 or 2 on the Richter scale of importance. So, I’d call that “oatmeal living.”
But our appearance in life does matter to our Creator! Because if we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, our lives matter more than perhaps we realize. Regardless of whatever your country’s leadership is, every country has an AMBASSADOR. An ambassador’s purpose is to represent their country, build relationships with other country and promote their own country’s interests.
In a word, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are here on earth, regardless of your current home address, to represent His Kingdom purpose and plan; and, to build relationships with other people, influencing them towards God’s wonderful kingdom and His personal interest in “their lives.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”
So, we represent Him wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. That means that His presence is within us! Stop and think about that truth for a moment or two. That is simply “astounding” to comprehend that in the sneakers of our walk……..
WE CARRY THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD WHEREVER WE ARE & WHATEVER WE’RE DOING!
You know, it’s like when we consume garlic, we don’t need to announce its presence…..because, it just OOZES OUT OF US. That’s what His presence in us longs to do in our lives! Talk about influence and impact! What an astonishing ambition and should be our life goal….to REPRESENT OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!!!
God isn’t interested in perfection…. just faithfulness in the little things, what to us may mean mundane and seemingly insignificant in the area of life. But we’re called to allow Jesus to “live out His plan and purpose” in our life.
Of course, our walk is through joys and sadness, frustration and anger, disappointments and accomplishments, most of which we’ll never comprehend their purpose. But HE KNOWS US intimately and is orchestrating the story of our life, one moment at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time, one year at a time and………….one experience at a time.
Proverbs 20:27 “The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.”
Jeremiah Study Bible commentary: “The proverbs asserts that every individual lives because of God and His inscrutable knowledge of His creation.”
May I camp on the meaning of inscrutable!
Impossible to understand, interpret, unreadable, impenetrable, mysterious, impossible to interpret, emotionless, unexplainable, beyond comprehension, baffling, fathomless, confusing, inexplicable, unintelligible
After reading just some of the meanings of the word inscrutable, my mind and heart seemed to fall off the chart. God knows all about each of us, not just the hairs on our head, but all that makes you…. you, and me….me. That knowledge itself ought to make us fall on our knees with gratitude. But of course, it’s true…. because HE DESIGNED YOU!
Psalm 139:1 “You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.”
Psalm 139:13 “For You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
And through all of that, as we surrender to Him all that we don’t understand, and some we will never understand until we see Him, we simply cling to Him daily. He promises that He will be working and shaping us to look more like Him in our life, our actions, our attitudes, our speech, and our motivation. Why? So that we represent Him well in our world. How we behave and respond to others is to be representative of the Lord.
How we need “His wisdom” for our daily walk. I want to quote a brief comment made by Dr. Charles Swindoll that gripped my heart and flooded it with encouragement.
“Wisdom comes privately from God as a by-product of right decisions, godly reactions, and the application of scriptural principles to daily circumstances. Wisdom comes, for example, not from seeking after a ministry…but more from anticipating the fruit of a disciplined life.
Not from trying to do great things for God…but more from being faithful to the small, obscure tasks few people ever see.” Dr. Charles Swindoll
Regardless of our place in life, we are an influencer! Our lives can motivate, persuade, win over, shape and have a marvelous affect on people…. toward the love Christ has for them. We need to “be the gospel…. the gospel with skin on,” so people can see and feel the love of Christ through our little, insignificant to us, oatmeal-like lives.
I’ve so embraced the comment by Elizabeth Elliott…. KEEP YOURSELF SMALL! God is the extraordinary One. It’s not about us…. it’s about Him!
Our lives cannot be all smiles, we all realize that. But let’s allow the “light of His Presence within us” to shine, even if, at times, through the tears. His presence within each of His kids brings influence. Let’s walk that out, through the power of His Holy Spirit within us.
Would people want to follow Jesus……after they’ve spent time with you?
Cups of Cold Water 