Beloved Friends in Christ,
According to the verse above, you are a witness for God! Perhaps you do not think so. Perhaps you believe that your gifts lie elsewhere. But the fact remains, you ARE a witness, even as every Christian is a witness.
You may be a poor witness, but you still are a witness. You see, whether or not you consider yourself a witness or whether or not you wish to be a witness, others observe the life that you live. And what they see is either a good or poor reflection of God. Everything you say and do somehow bears witness for God.
Now understand that being a witness is not the same as being an evangelist. An evangelist is someone who proclaims the gospel to unbelievers in a purposeful and winsome way, sometimes going out of his way to proclaim it. Not every Christian is an evangelist. But, every Christian is a witness.
A witness, unlike an evangelist, does not need to go out of the way to bear his testimony. Wherever he is, God will use his witness-whether that is in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria or in some other part of the world. So, we, as God's witnesses can fulfill our task of witnessing right where we are.
That is nothing to be troubled about. To the contrary, it is actually something about which we can be quite proud. What a privilege that God should use me to bear witness to Him!
Just as I am, and right where I am, God uses me. And He uses you. He uses our patience to let others know that He is patiently awaiting their return to Him. He uses our honesty to let others know that He is true in all His dealings with the children of His making. He uses our perseverance in prayer and our faithfulness in worship to show the world that His bride, the Church, is genuine and sincere. He uses our words to reveal the good news of the saving Christ. All that we do, whether in the presence of our family, our friends and neighbours or the community at large, bears witness to God.
We are God's witnesses! May Christ's love and light always shine through us.
In His service,
