Come on up and Testify!
God expects us to, “Go and tell!”
Beautiful Summer Afternoons
Years gone by hold many good memories for me. One of those memories is visiting relatives who attended small country churches. These churches occasionally had extraordinary Sunday afternoon events called “dinner on the grounds.” As a child, those events were fabulous times for me.
They were held on beautiful summer afternoons, and each family brought food – seemingly enough for at least 2 or 3 families. Of course my favorite place was the dessert tables. Yes, tables! Multiple tables of nothing but desserts. Given my love for sampling new foods, this was a virtual paradise for me as a child. Cakes, pies, brownies, custards – pretty much everything my young imagination could think of. And then after everyone was full, we would go back inside for the afternoon’s activity – a “singing.”
The singings were also wonderful. Probably the most fascinating thing to me was the way they would call up people from the congregation to just come up and “sing one.” (The church we regularly attended did nothing like this. Lol!) And then, not only would people be invited to just step up and sing, there would also be an invitation to, “Come on up and testify.” And people would go up and tell about what God was doing in their lives.
The only path to life
If those type services are still happening, I am not aware of any. Rather, the norm now is that we are expected not to talk about Jesus at all for fear of offending someone. When did we, as the body of Christ, lose sight of the fact that Jesus is the only path to life? Life both in this world and the world to come? How are we loving the lost people around us if we do not tell them about the great and awesome things God has done for us?
Luke 8:38-39a (NLT) tells us about a man from whom Jesus had cast out many demons: “The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” It clearly was important to Jesus that the man go back and “testify” about what God had done for him. Is it any different now? For us?
When you walk by the way
When Peter and the apostles were thrown into prison for talking about Jesus, God sent an angel to rescue them so they could continue with their witnessing: But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Acts 5:19-21.
If anyone had a valid reason not to talk about God, it would be those who were thrown into prison – and worse – for it. Instead, we see that Peter and the apostles immediately returned to the temple to continue telling about what God had done.
And in the original law that God gave to Moses for his people, there were also instructions regarding talking about God: And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:6-7. Sounds like that verse pretty much covers all the time. We are supposed to have God’s word on our hearts all the time.
Let your voice be heard!
That thought continues in Ephesians 5:18b-19: but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.
So in Luke, we see that the demoniac was told to go and tell what God had done for him. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are commanded to talk about God’s word constantly with their children. And in Ephesians, believers are instructed to address each other with spiritual songs. There is a definite pattern here. God wants to be on our hearts all the time. And He wants to be present in our conversations all the time. We cannot be silent.
Scripture is clear that we are called to be witnesses. (See Luke 24:48, John 15:27, Acts 1:8, 5:32, 26:22) According to Strong’s concordance, witnessing (from the Greek martureo) is defined as: to be a witness, i.e. testify (literally or figuratively):–charge, give (evidence), bear record, have (obtain, of) good (honest) report, be well reported of, testify, give (have) testimony, (be, bear, give, obtain) witness. Being a witness necessitates speaking. We must let our voices be heard. 1 Peter 3:15b (NLT) says, And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.
We must pay attention to the signs!
So where on earth did we ever get the idea that we should not speak of Jesus in certain places, or to certain people??? After all, He alone is the hope of the world. The Bible is very clear about our instructions to have Him on our hearts always. And be willing to speak about Him always. And in every situation.
Since we have to follow the signs to stay on the “Blessing Road,” we must pay attention to all the signs we are given. Not just the ones we like. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Mark 8:38.
May we not be ashamed!! Let us testify!!!
See you out there! 🙂
GUARD RAIL:
Tell what God has done for you!
“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8:38