Today’s Scripture: Acts 8-9

Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! – -1 Corinthians 9:16

There is a saying in management circles that “people do not do what you expect but what you inspect.” Today’s passage of Scripture indicates this is not true of the personal witness of a motivated Christian. For some Christians, witnessing is reserved for the one night a week when they go out calling in the visitation program. They talk to people about Christ, but that’s it for the week.

What a contrast with the report in Acts 8:4-5: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.”

We find Philip in the city of Samaria, apparently alone, with no apostle looking over his shoulder, witnessing to the entire city. Later, in Acts 8:26, we find Philip out in the desert, responding to the Lord’s prompting to catch up with an Ethiopian man in a chariot. The man was seeking the Lord, and Philip had the wonderful privilege of introducing him to Christ.

I believe the key to this kind of ongoing witness is found in the preceding chapters of Acts, where we see the apostles and other believers filled with the Holy Spirit, being unable to contain themselves when it came to talking about Christ. For them, witnessing was the natural thing to do.

When Christ fills our hearts and minds, we will naturally share Him. We don’t need an external manager to inspect us in order to get us to perform. The motivation comes from within, from Jesus.

Prayer

Lord, give me a vision for the lost so that my witness for You isn’t a duty but the natural product of my relationship with You. Amen.

To Ponder

True witness for Christ is not coerced or forced; it is the overflow of a life of fellowship with the Savior.

 

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