NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–It is not only imperative for others, but your own life, to give a gentle, clear, and effective witness to Jesus Christ in the marketplace where God has placed you. Jesus made it abundantly clear that every Christian is salt and light. Each Christian can and should have a real and dynamic influence on others. A clear sharing about Jesus is one way that God has purposed for this influence to be effective:
You are the light of the world … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matt. 5:14-16
But Jesus also said:
… Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
Matt. 10:32-33
Not everyone will joyfully “receive” your witness positively — but one may, and his or her eternal destiny will be changed forever. No one can respond to what they do not hear. But God Himself will always “honor His Word.” It will not go forth and not produce that for which He sent it — through you. [Isaiah 55:10-13]. God Himself assures every believer that He will be actively at work in and through every witness given.
What an encouragement and assurance. Further, in the Scriptures, God works more in the workplace than any other place. For it is there that some will hear for the first time; others will hear one more time, what their consciences are feeling; and still others will have brought to their remembrance what they once knew but have neglected. We are not told to “make” something happen. We are told simply to be “witnesses to Him” (Acts 1:8).
Almost every week I hear of God’s people sharing about Jesus where they work. I also hear of lives being changed and transformed, even marriages saved and suicides prevented. All this happens because one believer shared from his life who Jesus is and what He means to them. Every witness before men brings an immediate “witness before the Father in heaven,” given by Jesus on your behalf. The father immediately responds to you, bringing His blessings into your life.
Begin your day with an unhurried time before God. Let Him alert you and adjust you to what He will be doing around your life today. Then go to work with a heart full of expectation and joy, watching for Him to direct you and enable you to bear witness to Him with someone whom He has prepared to hear you. It is in the marketplace that God is most at work through His people, as “salt and light” to others.
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Blackaby serves as president of Henry Blackaby Ministries, www.henryblackaby.com. His column appears monthly.
