Sharing what we’ve heard and experienced: every believer’s challenge
By Dean Collins
I write every day. I write after I have read a few passages of Scripture. My hope is that something I share cheers someone up, helps to build someone’s faith, or stirs someone to action. When I finish writing, I send my brief offering to my friend Mark who catches my grammatical mistakes, misspelled words, and run-on sentences before finding art, formatting text, and posting my devotion to my website. No matter how much I write there is always more to tell, and I must decide what things are not important enough to share.
When John was finishing up his Gospel, twice in the last two chapters he mentions there were many other things Jesus did that are not mentioned. And his stated reason is that the world couldn’t contain the books written about all that Jesus truly has accomplished.
The Gospel of John contains 21 chapters and basically gives us a snapshot of three years of Jesus’ life on earth. In the final scene we find Jesus cooking fish over a charcoal fire on the beach. For some of the group, it was a full-circle experience. They first met Jesus by the sea. For all of the group, memories of Jesus feeding bread and fish to thousands from one boy’s lunch probably popped in their heads as Jesus passed the plate of bread and fresh fish for them to enjoy.
Hearing about Jesus
It wouldn’t be long until this group would make it their sole focus to tell others about Jesus. All through the Gospel of John we find people coming to Jesus because someone else told them about him and what he had done. In chapter 1 Andrew meets Jesus at the seashore and immediately goes and finds his brother to tell him. The next day when Phillip meets Jesus, he hurries to tell Nathaniel.
We learn in chapter 4 of the Samaritans coming in droves to hear Jesus because one woman had hurried back, proclaiming to friends and neighbors that Jesus had told her everything she’d ever done. And all the way through the Gospels, people are coming to Jesus not only because of his signs and wonders, but because of the stories and testimonies of those who had encountered Jesus.
Telling about Jesus
When was the last time you ran to your neighbor’s house or sent a text telling someone what Jesus has done for you? And, honestly, couldn’t we tell about more than one thing Jesus has done in our lives?! It was just over a week ago we celebrated Easter. Many of us spoke the words, “He is risen.“ And if we believe that, then he is alive and active today and every day. And a very alive Jesus is still showing up in the middle of your day. How many ways has Jesus impacted you in the last week? Was there anything Jesus did that is worth telling someone about? I suspect we all know the answer.
Someone cared enough, was excited enough about Jesus that they told us about him. Maybe today would be a good day for you to pay it forward and tell someone what Jesus has done for you. You don’t have to know everything about the Bible to tell someone about Jesus. Just tell them what he did for you. They might be interested enough to pick up a Bible and see for themselves that Jesus is God’s Son and there is life in his name.
Your time with God’s Word
John 20:30-31; 21:9-14, 25; 1:38-45; 3:1-2; 4:28-30, 39, 42 ESV
Photo by Mauro Lima on Unsplash
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