Being a Good Witness to Family and Friends
This morning at 5 AM we had a dozen men to finish studying the account of Jesus returning to His hometown of Nazareth in Luke 4. Danny was there for the first time, too. We had a great discussion of the passage and the application for us today.
Jesus was being a good example for us, when He decided to go first to His hometown to declare that He was the long awaited Messiah. He was showing us the importance of being a good witness to His family and friends. We need to do the same thing, even though it is hard.
Jesus was probably not trying to make them mad, but that was the result of His testimony from Isaiah 61:1,2 and His proclamation that He fulfilled that Scripture. At first the people liked what they heard, but when Jesus challenged their unbelief, they became very angry. They wanted to kill Him by throwing Him off of a cliff.
Our witness to our family and friends might have the same result, but we still need to try to share the truth and point them to faith. It is not enough to just ask them to go to church or be good people. That does not bring anyone to salvation. We must show them by our changed life and by our words that Jesus is Lord, and we must trust Him as Lord to have a relationship with Him and have our sins forgiven. It will make some people feel guilty. It will make others accuse us of being narrow minded. However, if we love them we will do what Jesus did in telling them the truth of the gospel.
We must not let fear stop us, and we must not talk ourselves out of it by thinking they will not respond, so there is no use. We must not put pressure on them, either. All we need to do is to lovingly tell them what the Bible says and what Jesus has done for us. Of course, we need to constantly pray for them, too. I pray that we will all learn from this important example of Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 46-48 and Acts 28.
Jesus was being a good example for us, when He decided to go first to His hometown to declare that He was the long awaited Messiah. He was showing us the importance of being a good witness to His family and friends. We need to do the same thing, even though it is hard.
Jesus was probably not trying to make them mad, but that was the result of His testimony from Isaiah 61:1,2 and His proclamation that He fulfilled that Scripture. At first the people liked what they heard, but when Jesus challenged their unbelief, they became very angry. They wanted to kill Him by throwing Him off of a cliff.
Our witness to our family and friends might have the same result, but we still need to try to share the truth and point them to faith. It is not enough to just ask them to go to church or be good people. That does not bring anyone to salvation. We must show them by our changed life and by our words that Jesus is Lord, and we must trust Him as Lord to have a relationship with Him and have our sins forgiven. It will make some people feel guilty. It will make others accuse us of being narrow minded. However, if we love them we will do what Jesus did in telling them the truth of the gospel.
We must not let fear stop us, and we must not talk ourselves out of it by thinking they will not respond, so there is no use. We must not put pressure on them, either. All we need to do is to lovingly tell them what the Bible says and what Jesus has done for us. Of course, we need to constantly pray for them, too. I pray that we will all learn from this important example of Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 46-48 and Acts 28.