What are people reading in us?
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Everybody loves a good book! Some draw you in more than others. There are those so captivating you can’t put them down. As Christians – true born again believers – we’re the only Bible some people read. That’s quite a thought; quite a responsibility.
Hopefully, our pages reveal the good traits of Jesus Christ and the fruit of the Spirit. It takes Him to do the work! We need the flesh subdued, and Christ and the Holy Ghost flowing from us. That’s effective enough.
Philippians 2:14-15 states, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”
Does not today’s world need us to be who we profess we are? So many are hurting, lost and confused. They need to see Christ in us, the hope of glory! In these trying times, God is working in us and through us. His love for a lost and dying world is still the answer. He wants to be seen and experienced through His people. He wants to love through us. Many times, it requires sacrificing time and resources. Are we willing?
The old saying goes, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” In our case, what lies within must identify with the exterior. In other words, we can’t merely profess Christianity but lack a genuine experience within. A mere profession won’t turn the world upside down. Only God can do that through a people sold out to Him.
In Jesus’ days on earth, there were religious figures who appeared good on the outside. Their book covers were perhaps appealing. But their inside pages were a different story altogether!
This is how Jesus described them in Matthew 23:27-28, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness, Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
Ouch! That had to sting. But it was a true assessment by One who can’t be fooled. You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. However, nobody can ever fool God!
C’mon now. People read us. They know what is legitimately of God. It starkly contrasts with the world. It is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” Sounds pleasant to me! Paul told the Corinthians he didn’t need to provide them “epistles of commendation” as proof of his ministry.
He simply said the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. In other words, the Corinthians were changed by the gospel Paul preached “not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit, and power.”
“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.” – 2 Corinthians 3:2-3.
The gospel was received in the heart, and a change was apparent. It was evident to all men. Their book covers were good! Their inside pages lined up with the heart of Jesus and the Word of God, not dead men’s bones. What are needy people reading and seeing in us?
Sam Kaufman pastors The Church of God at 405 13th Ave. N. in Alexander City. Contact him at 432-266-0154.
