Dr. I. David Byrd, August 15, 2019
“God will not give us the Holy Spirit to enable us to gain celebrity or to procure a name or to live an easy, self-controlled life. The Spirit’s passion is the glory of the Lord Jesus, and can make His abode [only] with those who are willing to be at one with Him in this”.
F.B. Meyer
Reading the Word is not only beneficial to our walk; it can benefit others. As the number of readers of The Journey increases, so do the types of follow-up questions. I am realizing some have limited context for what we are talking about. I now am more conscious of the importance of you and I taking time to teach those around us. People are expecting us to use our platforms to make the Word plain to them; not to tell them how great we are or creating thirst traps as a way of gaining attention or validation. Our goal should be to reflect Him through us. Charles Koller explains it, “Not as a pipe through which the truth flows out to others, but as a living embodiment of the truth to which we seek to win others”. Witnessing does not depend on flashy rhetoric or heart wrenching stories. The spirit does the convicting and convincing. We are merely the tool. So, “study to show ourselves approved”.
When we don’t take the time to teach the Bible to others we dilute the complexity, historicity, and beauty of its story, and the readers can miss significant facets of the Good News about Jesus. I’m reminded of the story of Philip joining the Ethiopian high official in Acts 8 as a perfect example for us to model:
27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch,
a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,
who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship
28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked,
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Philip didn’t wait for him to come to church. Philip joined the Ethiopian where he was. The Ethiopian official needed someone to relationally unfold Isaiah 53:7-8 to him in a way that made sense.
So here are the two challenges this passage confronts us with. First, we must be willing to step into some elses “chariot” and sit alongside people who can’t make sense of life, much less the Bible. Second, we must study God’s Word diligently and learn from good teachers about His whole counsel, so that when we do have opportunities with those seeking to understand, we can engage them with the whole story instead of leaving them with a presentation. We can only teach others what we’ve learned ourselves; so consider studying a book or two of the Bible.
You never know who God may put in your path to share the Good News. When your opportunity comes, just like Philip, be prepared.
Father God,
Prepare us to share your Word with others. Unless we study, we won’t be ready. It’s not always easy to dedicate time to studying; and yes I know this is an excuse. Help me to do better. I want and need to represent you well.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life. Hey, spend a few moments of quiet time discovering your personal application of what you just read by clicking this link myTime with God