PROFESSION

Scripture for the day: Deuteronomy 26:3 And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.”

Thought for the day: There's something about putting things in writing that seems to make a more powerful statement, isn't there? Once you've put it down on paper and perhaps placed your signature underneath it, there's no turning back; it's there for all the world to see. You can't deny it without serious damage to your credibility. The same is true of our profession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

There is something about standing before other people and making public our faith in Jesus Christ. It's a wonderful thing for us to believe for salvation, for cleansing, for purity, power and perfection but no one else will ever benefit from it and we'll come to doubt it ourselves if we don't tell someone. Romans 10: 9-10 says: "if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." There's no way around it folks; "silent witness" is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. There can be no such thing in the Christian experience.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I also know the impact our life choices can make on those with whom we interact. God honoring choices in the midst of adversity also speak volumes. In fact, our actions must work in tandem with our testimony or neither of them are believable.

Jesus said, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

But the question is; why on earth or in heaven wouldn't we want to share with others the best thing that's ever happened to us? Why wouldn't that become the greatest thing we could ever do? When our favorite team wins a close match, we get all excited and want to tell everyone - and that's over something with no eternal significance whatsoever. Can you imagine a man whose wife has just given birth to his first child who doesn't want to tell anyone about it? You can't force that man to keep quiet. Yet, as important as it is, that event pales in comparison to the new birth a person experiences in coming to Christ and to the heart cleansing and empowerment for living that comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, it's the best thing that ever could happen to you. Go tell someone about it ---- today!

Now go take on your world. - Bill