A thought

I don't usually blog about my thoughts concerning God.  They are pretty personal.  However, I think a good deal about what it is God has called each follower of His to do and I think I am ready to share some of them.  Jesus said to His disciples when they asked Him what work were they to do, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."  (John 6:29)

He asks us to believe, and I think that evangelism follows.  It is not a prerequisite for heaven as it were, but it is a byproduct of our belief.  My brother just broke a Virginia Tech pool record in his meet this last weekend.  He broke 20 seconds in the 50 free and he is now second in the Tar Heel history of swimming that event.  Do you know how many people I have told?  Everyone.  Every person I have talked to since Sunday now knows about my brother's swimming prowess.  At church, on the phone, out in the neighborhood, and anywhere people ask me, "What's new?," I am ready with the headlining details of my little brother's talent.

Perhaps it should be that way for evangelism.  Jesus didn't shove it down our throats to sweat, cry, and lose sleep over how to shout his name from rooftops and our back decks.  He did, however, sweat, cry, and lose sleep over what it would take to save us.  In doing so He experienced the greatest joy-- giving God his own life towards God's glory.  He lived a life of service and sacrifice, and yes, evangelism.  He wasn't depressed, he wasn't bored, and he wasn't boring.  He was fascinating, exciting, an adventurer and a lover of people.  He was full.  Full of life, full of love, and it poured out in the form of sermons and parables and stories about His Father.  He believed in every fiber of his being that God was worth talking about, and so He did.

I don't think the question is how much should I talk about Him, but rather if I haven't talked about Him to someone recently then how much do I really believe in who He is?  To say I believe in Jesus, that He is the way and the truth and the life, is one thing.  To actually ride the white water rapids of that belief is something so much more terrible and exciting.  Where in the name of all that is holy is that raft??