by Rebekah Harvey

“There was once a Church of England clergyman who was gloriously saved. When Jesus changed his life he started preaching the gospel to his whole parish and they all got saved. Then he started preaching in neighboring parishes, and the clergymen of those parishes were offended. They asked the bishop to make the man stop. When the bishop confronted him he said, “I hear you are always preaching and you don’t seem to be doing anything else.” The changed man answered, “Well bishop, I only preach during two seasons of the year.” The bishop said, “I’m glad to know that; what seasons are they?” He replied, “In season and out of season!” – David Guzik Commentary on 2 Timothy

What season are you in? 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” Paul was encouraging his brother in the Lord, Timothy, to be ready to share God’s Word, the good news, all the time! Even though most of us are not “preachers” in occupation this instruction still applies to us. If we rely only on the preachers in the world to get the good news message out to people, so many that need to hear it will be missed. How did you hear the good news message? Was it from a preacher or someone that had a personal relationship with Jesus and was bold enough to share with you?

I know that I can do a better job of sharing the good news of Jesus with people I am in contact with. It can be a scary thing to try and talk to someone about Jesus. Maybe a way you can try to share with them is from your own personal experience in your life. What has Jesus done in you that has been life changing? Your personal testimony is something God has done for you and can’t be argued. Just like your experience at a restaurant or store is something personal to you.

We are coming to a great time of year to have conversations about faith. It seems that at Easter and Christmas people are more open to talk about faith. I encourage you to step out and be bold and invite people to have a conversation with you. Share something God has done in your life and see where the conversation goes. Pray for Him to guide you and be sensitive.

Go a step further and find someone to hold you accountable to sharing the good news with others, have them ask you what you have done to share the gospel with a lost person this week. Remember the responsibility to share about Jesus is not all for the pastor but for the disciples of Jesus.

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere–in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – even Evanston, Wyoming!

Romans 10:14 “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?”

Who will you tell about Jesus?