Being A Silent Witness - Letting Your Life Speak For You

 And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. - Deuteronomy 6:6-9

If you depended upon your life to proclaim the Gospel instead of words - would it have anything to say?

Spiritual maturity cannot be measured by knowledge alone, but by how you live out your faith. That is a rough quote from a sermon I heard recently in the church my son and daughter-in-law attend in Mesa, Arizona. Essentially, my testimony should not be limited to how much knowledge I have about what the Bible says, information about the Truth, but rather how much of what the Bible says is demonstrated in the way I live my life, daily application of the Truth.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." - James 1:22

You know what people call a person who says one thing and then does another - yes that's right - a hypocrite. Recall Jesus' words.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. - Matthew 23:27

That same pastor, Jeremy Gills, said "Faith that lives at church will not survive real life because God designed (intended) faith for your walking not just your worship." When I was with the Promise Keeper ministry, I described what I saw some men who attended the annual conferences as using their attendance as a "Promise Keeper Pill". In other words, thinking if you attend one conference a year then you will be good to go spiritually until the next conference. And yet, I had wives tell me that their husband returned from the conference a "new man" but after a couple of weeks they drifted back to be the same old man. The glory faded because there was not real change - just a hope that somehow there had been real change.  

There is a song written by Steven Curtis Chapman and  James Isaac Elliot called "The Change". 

Well I got myself a T-shirt that says what I believe I got letters on my bracelet to serve as my ID
I got the necklace and the key chain And almost everything a good Christian needs
I got the little Bible magnets on my refrigerator door And a welcome mat to bless you before you walk across my floor
I got a Jesus bumper sticker And the outline of a fish stuck on my car
And even though this stuff's all well and good I cannot help but ask myself--
What about the change What about the difference What about the grace What about forgiveness
What about a life that's showing I'm undergoing the change 

For those guys who attended the conferences it was a t-shirt or a hat. They changed the look of the outside of the cup - but there was no heart change. Let me add - that many men did experience real heart change - but like some of the men - many Christians count on Sunday morning worship to be their "weekly pill"

Pastor Gills went on to say that "you don't drift into spiritual strength - you drift into spiritual weakness" It would be like being on a boat and casting off the lines from a dock and trusting that the wind and waves would take you to your destination. It will require effort on your part. "Rowing" until you arrive.

Would people you are around every day be surprised to discover that you are a Christian? Does your life speak for you?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone