RustyView.com

I have recently had the opportunity to have a great deal of spiritual conversations with a lot of people in my life. Everywhere I go I seem to encounter somebody with questions. The really great thing about all of this is that I have been able to share my faith and my walk with a lot of people. On the other side of the same coin I have really been challenged by these questions. And while I will admit that I don’t have all of the answers, I think I have been able to help give a little perspective and insight.

Through all of these conversations I have really come to appreciate this passage from the last chapter of Colossians:

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone

We are first to devote ourselves to prayer. I watched this movie the other day that was the portrayal of one of the first books I ever read for leisure. Overall the book is and was probably unsuitable for a kid in the eighth great like I was when I first read it. But in the end there really was a great message behind all of the other stuff. Anyway in the movie there is a kid who is really sold out for God. Characters in the movie begin dying off and he starts praying. At one point the other characters ask him about his praying and he replies saying something like, “In the morning I ask for help, at night I give thanks, and in between I just try to get open like a wide receiver.”

I love that and it exactly what Paul is talking about in the passage from Colossians! Paul writes that we are to be watchful and make the most of every opportunity. And thats what the character was trying to do.

What revolutionary change would it have on our lives if we could have this kind of attitude towards prayer. This character’s prayer life showed that he really believed that everyday belongs to God. At one point in the movie he quotes scripture saying that our purpose on earth is to love God and to serve God. I think that if we really have this kind of attitude that we would be constantly going to Him in prayer.

All of this has really been on my mind since I have had so many opportunities to have such great conversations recently. I have really been praying that God would open up opportunities to share His Word and love with people and now that He has, I have found that I cannot share it on my own. I need His help. Because of that I really have to go to God as often as possible. I encourage you to do the same, whether it means dropping to your knees in a back room at work or just whispering a short prayer in the car. Praying is so unbelievably beneficial to us. And with everything else it helps us to remember who is really in charge. This mindset will help us in every aspect of our lives. So as well as going to God in prayer, we are also to live lives worthy of the calling we’ve been given. Again if we believe that God has saved us from death, we will live our lives for Him.

But one of the biggest things that has occurred to me recently is the difference between witnessing and converting. Paul in the passage above says that our conversations should be full of grace. We are not supposed to cut down people or argue them into submission. We are called to make the best of every opportunity.

I was just telling one of my best friends that the best tool we have in ministry is our testimony. When we are able to tell someone how Jesus has changed our lives and how much His living Word does for us, we are then able to talk about something we have experienced, something we have lived through. To me at least, that’s a lot easier than describing the exact science of creation seeing as how I’ve only been around for twenty years.

My point is this: Jesus says the greatest commandment is to Love God and the second is Love one another. We are called to be witnesses of God’s love and grace and mercy and beauty and truth. We are not called to argue people into believing. We are called to love even our enemies, people that believe different things and come from different backgrounds. If we are to represent Christ and Christ is God and God is love then we are to LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY in every direction without any kind of reservation. And whenever we make ourselves open to God like a wide receiver then we are able to receive HIS love to give to those around us, and not our own which is only a dim reflection of God’s true love. So let us ask for help in the morning, give thanks at night and just try to get open in the middle with the hope of flooding the world with God’s love.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty