Unintentional Witnessing

I don't know about you, but I really enjoyed Suzanna's devotional earlier this week. Wasn't it inspiring? I thought it would be fun to see what God says about being a missionary to those around us, and I found quite a few verses.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ~ Colossians 3:17

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. ~ 1 Peter 4:10

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. ~ 1 Timothy 4:12

God has placed us all where we are in life for a reason. Just because we can't pack up and head for a foreign country doesn't mean we can't tell people about Jesus.

I had an experience that reinforced this concept to me a couple weeks ago when I was at the library. While I was waiting in line to check my books out, I noticed one librarian in particular. I heard a quiet voice whisper in my heart, You will share Me with her today.

"What, God? No! You know I've never led anyone to Christ! Much less some random librarian that I don't even know. I can't believe you're asking me to do this," I protested. (Honestly. That is more or less what I said.)

Okay, don't freak out. Just ask her how she is.

I can do that, I decided. I stepped up to the counter and set my books down.

"How has your day gone so far?" I asked, smiling as warmly as I could.

"Good, good," she responded genuinely, her eyes smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I responded.

"Great. These books are due on January 20th."

God, how am I supposed to lead her to Christ when she's handing me my receipt? I questioned.

You did share Me with her, He said.

It was only when I walked out that I understood. I had shared Christ with the librarian just by noticing her, and by attempting to brighten her day. Suddenly my favorite quote took on a whole new meaning:

“Preach the gospel always – and if necessary, use words.”

We are always sharing our faith, whether we realize it or not.

~Kylie

Modern and Past Missionaries

Well...I was supposed to write about modern and past missionaries, but, me being the rebellious person that I am, I decided I'd just write about modern missionaries.



So, when I think of the word missionary, I think about some adventurous person wearing khaki shorts and a green t-shirt searching for a tribe to preach to through binoculars. What do you picture?


But, the funny thing is that there's another type of missionary. If you are a Christian and you talk to you friends, family, people you don't even know about God, then you're a missionary.


In my big, thick Webster's dictionary (I named it Big Ol' Blu.) the definition of 'missionary' is a person sent on a mission; specif., a person sent out by his church to preach and teach.


The church that I go to have different missionaries come from all over the world to talk about what they do. I think listening to their stories and the ways they live are so interesting. So different from what I'm used to here in America, that's for sure.


And all of our missionaries that visit our church all say that they felt led to go out into the world and preach the gospel. I know God has different talents and things that he gives people, and I definitely don't feel called to be a missionary in Peru, the Phillipines, China. I feel like God is calling me to help the people around me. The people I see every week in town, the people visiting our church.


And maybe one day God will call me to go somewhere exotic or out of my comfort zone to help people become Christians. But for now, I'm just working on the people around me. Because, just like in Europe or Mexico, there's people around, -lots of them, I might add- that need Christ in their life.


So...here's a little challenge; try being a missionary for a day. You might get something out of it; the person you're talking to might get something out of it; or all of the above. The latter would be best...


Thanks for reading. Please take this entry to heart...I know I will!!


~Suzanna