“Who is going to harm you if ……..” 1 Peter 3:13-16
The Super Bowl is a staple of the American winter diet and although viewership was down for last week’s game it was still watched by an estimated 103 million people. The result was an upset in some people’s eyes. While being interviewed after the game the winning quarterback was asked: “how do you explain this win seeing that nine years ago you were coaching in high school?” Quarterback Doug Pederson, without hesitation, replied “I can only give the praise to my lord and saviour Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity”. On live TV, in front of 103 million, he unashamedly acknowledged Jesus as Lord of His life.
In Peter’s second letter he offers advice on Christian living and behaviour not only within the Christian community but in the world. He almost suggests we must strut our stuff before others letting them know we are a child of God and our hope rests in Him. But as todays passage suggests, we must also be able to talk the walk. When asked, we must be able to share why Jesus means something to us. Peter warns not to be arrogant about the way we witness but to humbly share, without fear or hesitation, that Jesus is the Lord of our life.
Evangelism, the spreading of the Christian gospel, appears difficult to many because they have been undercover Christians for so long. They are afraid to jump out in the open and speak and do as Christ commanded. But, we are ALL called to let others know about Jesus. We should be prepared so that when we are in front of a TV camera, standing amongst friends, or sitting at a coffee shop and are asked “why are you like you are?” we can also boldly, and unashamedly declare ‘“I can only give the praise to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”.
As Easter approaches we have the consumer world to thank for preparing our friends and neighbours to hear the real story of Easter. They suspect there is a deeper meaning and we can shed some light on the truth. Be prepared to do so. Reflect on what Jesus means to you and see if you can sum that up in under 5 minutes. Talk with God about your desire to tell people about Jesus and be prepared for divine encounters to occur. Mostly, live your life for Jesus by loving God with your whole being and loving others. When you do this, you will be a witness to something great that the world is seeking but don’t know where to look. You can point them in the direction of hope.