As the calendar turns from one year to the next, many people make New Year’s resolutions. Within days, those resolutions lie in the dust irreparably broken. Resolutions usually are nothing more than wishful thinking. They rarely have any eternal consequence.
The need of the hour is not for empty resolutions, but heartfelt commitments that will make an eternal difference. Last week, I challenged you to spend this year reading the Bible from cover to cover. Few things have the power to transform your life than the constant flow of the Word of God over your life.
This week, I want to challenge you to do something that far too few of us make a part of our lives. I admonish us to consistently and regularly pray and share our faith.
We hold in our hearts the singular most liberating and eternity changing truth in the world. We have the Good News. This bad news dominated world cannot overcome the Good News. We, on the other hand, can either share it or hide it. Our decision will have eternal impact in the lives of people whom God places in our normal traffic patterns of life.
The challenge is simple. Start a prayer list of lost people you know. Add to that list as you encounter new people. Pray each day for God to open their hearts to the Gospel and to give you sensitivity to the right time to share the Good News. Pray and tell. Another way to say it is to pray passionately for the unsaved and boldly speak the message of Christ to them.
Most of us make witnessing hard. We think we need some unique story or outline in order to share the Gospel. In reality, witnessing can be as simple as telling your story followed by His story. One of my friends used to say that we just need to “brag on Jesus.” He is right.
Would you be willing to make a consistent effort to find someone each week with whom you just “brag on Jesus”? Bragging on Jesus will open the door for the Good News.
I admit to spending a good bit of time in the last week bragging on the Cowboys. I am so proud of their success. I am a fan. But I am more than a fan of Jesus—I am a follower whose life has been radically and permanently changed by Jesus. He deserves to be “ bragged on.”
Anthony L. Jordan is executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
