Hey! Wasn’t that you?!

Whenever a new year approaches, people inevitably think about the challenges of the year that is ending and declare that the next year will be different. The world likes to call it making resolutions but church folk usually say things like “this year won’t be like last year” or “I’m not looking back, only forward!” But the Lord asked me this morning about impact. With all the things you won’t do anymore or won’t tolerate, or won’t participate in, sometimes you can forget to reconcile what you already did. It’s easy to see what has happened to you, right? But what impact have you made? What will others remember about you in 2018?

1 Peter 2:11&12 are interesting verses and the ones that the Lord highlighted for me this morning. I read them in 4 or 5 translations, all of which preached a word to me. But I was led to share the Message translation. It says, “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.” 

You see, it is so important that you don’t get so caught up in operating and living like the world that the unsaved can’t see a difference. What would the people at the grocery store say about you in 2018? What about at work or in the neighborhood? Would they celebrate your God based on how you treated people, reacted to crisis, or made decisions? What impact have you made? It’s time to stop being so casual about your witness and really be like Christ. I recently saw an answer on a survey about the church that broke my heart. In response to the question of why they don’t attend church, they said “because church people don’t act like Christians outside of the church.” Sure, that’s not everyone but someone made such an impression with their behavior or attitude that the person was uninterested in church. What if it was you?

As you go through these last few days of 2018, ask yourself if you are living in such a way that God would be celebrated by the unsaved. Be honest! Is it time to merge your Monday – Saturday life with your Sunday life? Lord, help if Jesus returns on a Thursday! So while you are guarding your heart and your words this year, also guard your witness! Be mindful of what you say, how you respond and where you go.  Be the one that brings folks to Christ instead of running them away. Consider your impact in 2019!

Amen