Are you Protectecting your witness?

I believe Jesus is coming back soon. I also believe that in this day and age we need to be making a difference in the lives of unsaved loved ones, friends, and strangers who do not know the love of Christ. Friend's the clock is ticking away and we are running out of time to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with this world. Now you might say, "what can I do"? “I am not good with words so I could never be a good preacher or anything of that nature, so I will just go to church and hey I believe in Jesus so I'm going to heaven.” What else can I do?" Well you might not be a Billy Graham. Maybe you’re not good with kids, or maybe, just maybe you sing like me and the only keys you can find are keys to your car. Well there goes your singing career.

Where does that leave you in the body of Christ? Good question. To start, I intend on answering this question with a story I once heard, that now I am sharing with you. There was a young man named Timmy who grew up in a small town in the Midwest. Now Timmy had a speech impediment and found himself being teased and made fun of by other youngsters. As time went by this young man grew bitter and angry. Years passed, and as the young boy turned into a man he found himself in and out of trouble.

Timmy was feared and disliked by everyone who knew him. On the surface it would appear there was not much good in Timmy. It was once said "only JESUS could love Timmy". It was fair to say Timmy has some very bad habits. He would steal that which was not nailed down, or say bad things about someone, whether true or not. And so often the case Timmy found his way to alcohol and drugs. At 38 years of age he found himself destroyed by alcohol, drugs, and a lifetime of bad choices.

During a revival held at a local mission he heard a man tell a story about JESUS. This JESUS could forgive you of all your sins and wash you with his blood and make you as white as snow. While Timmy listened to this story tears filled his eyes and he began to weep. When the alter call was made Timmy was the first one to the altar. Timmy met JESUS that night and almost immediately was a changed man. After his commitment to Jesus Timmy became a volunteer at the mission and began giving back to the community he took so much from.

A day would not go by that you would not see Timmy's smiling face lighting that doorway of that small mission. People would drive by and ask, "Is that the same Timmy that grew up here and caused so much trouble"? Timmy was forever a change man. The love of JESUS reached out to this lost soul and pulled him in. There was nothing he would not do when asked. You could find Timmy on most days cleaning toilets that most others would find offensive, or cleaning of the sidewalks stained by the filth left there by the patrons of the old mission. But yet through all of this Timmy would never complain and take time to help anyone that asked and never would you catch him without a smile on his face. Timmy was truly loved by all who took the time to know the man that JESUS set free.

On an evening about 6 months later a man came and preached a revival at the mission. On one of the days of the revival a man walked in and sat in the back of the building and listen to the preacher speak. The man was moved by what he heard and when it came for the alter call he ran down at the altar and began to weep aloud saying, "help me be like Timmy". Upon hearing this statement the preacher began to make his way over to the man and whispered in his ear "I think what you mean to say is help me be like JESUS don't you"? The man hearing this looked up at the preacher with a puzzled look and asked, " Is JESUS anything like Timmy"?

We are children of GOD and as children of the light its time to let it shine 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. Be the change you most want to see in others and in the world. Let JESUS be seen in your daily walk. The only JESUS some people will ever see is the JESUS in you. The same JESUS who saved you and set you free from what ever you were going through when your heart cried out to him, is still the same, he never changed. If it feels like JESUS might of left you remember this, JESUS will never leave YOU nor forsake YOU! So guess what? You moved out of the neighborhood. Don't you think its time you moved back!

Author: By R. T. Keating
Date:10/20/02