Ready Witnesses

Ready Witnesses Tuesday, March 03, 2020 by Dr. Paul Chappell “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.” Acts 8:29–31 When the Holy Spirit directed Philip to leave the revival in Samaria and go into the desert, it must have seemed like a strange thing. Going from a place where many people were responding to the gospel to a place where there were almost no people at all is not in keeping with human logic. Yet God knew that there was one important individual on his way home from Jerusalem, and He wanted Philip to meet him. Philip showed no hesitation. He immediately went where God directed, and when he saw the chariot, he ran to meet the Ethiopian eunuch and took advantage of the opportunity God placed before Him. If we want to find excuses not to witness to someone, we can always do that. But if we take eternity seriously, if we take the commands of God seriously, and if we take our Christian duty seriously, we must instead be ready to take advantage of any open door to share the good news with those around us. Whether it is family members, co-workers, neighbors, friends, or strangers, every person we know and every person we meet will spend eternity either in Heaven or in Hell. God has assigned the responsibility for reaching the lost to His children. Paul wrote, “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18). We cannot assume that someone else will step forward to fulfill this obligation. There are people each of us have a chance to reach and we must reach them. Today's Growth Principle: We need to be constantly alert to every opportunity to share the gospel with others.