In chapter 3 of the book of Acts, Peter is speaking to the crowd that is gathered about Jesus. In verse 15 he says, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.”
I want to share with you about being witnesses. In my life as a Christian I have witnessed many things that God has done. I have seen people healed when the doctors had said nothing could be done. I have seen many lives changed through the power of the Holy Spirit. I have felt the Spirit of God move in my life in many different ways. There is no doubt I have witnessed God’s work over and over again. I rejoice in this fact and I look forward to what God will do in the future.
There is more to being a witness than just seeing, feeling, or experiencing something. A witness has to be wiling to share what they saw with others. In the verse above Peter is sharing what he saw and knows to be true with others who did not see or do not know. When I first remember hearing about someone witnessing to someone else about Jesus I was very young and wasn’t quite sure what they were doing. Witnessing seemed like trying to convince someone they should be saved. And in fact, there is some truth to that, but I believe it is more basic than that. Witnessing is simply sharing what I have experienced or what I know.
I believe God calls us to be faithful witnesses to what He has done in our lives. This doesn’t mean I am responsible for convincing someone to believe in Jesus. My role is to share what God has done in me and for me. God will take care of the rest. It is like planting seeds. There is no guarantee that every seed planted will grow and reach it’s full potential. That is God’s business—He is the Lord of the Harvest. I am to plant a seed or, maybe, water it or, possibly do some weeding around it as needed but only God can make it grow.
When I share what God has done in my life I might be planting a seed or I might be watering a seed that was planted previously by reinforcing what God is doing in their lives. Or, I might be used by the Holy Spirit to do some weeding in the person’s life by answering some questions they have about the Christian life. I might not talk with them at all but merely live a life that reflects Jesus in the word and my silent witness may be used by the Holy Spirit in a way I could never even imagine.
Being a witness involves doing something. Not just anything but doing the things God leads you to do. God wants you to be yourself—the person He is forging you to be. He will lead you to do and say the things He wants. Your job is to listen and be obedient when He tells you what to do. God may lead you to do something simple or He may lead you to study diligently to prepare for a specific encounter. God may lead you to be a witness to people around you numerous times in a day by simply giving Him credit for your good mood—“God is good.”
Like Peter, we are witnesses to what God has done in our lives. Peter saw the risen Lord and walked with him and spent time with him before he ascended into heaven. I have witnessed Jesus in other ways but my call to be a witness is the same as Peter’s.
May you be blessed as you live your life, a testimony to what God has done in you.
Tim
