Luke 8:39
"Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you."
Show and Tell
This verse is a powerhouse of concentrated instruction in evangelism! How much can we learn from once small sentence? We can make a few observations here to begin:
1. Return to your own house - Show
Go back to where you came from. Go among those that know you. Show yourself to them. Sometimes, there is no harder place to return than to "our own house." We'd rather run off overseas than face those we know and more importantly - those who know us. This is exactly where Jesus wants us to go. Jesus desires both show and tell. You can't just show and you can't just tell. He himself did this all the time - He began to do and to teach...Acts 1:1 to show and tell!
2. Tell! Proclaim - Open your mouth.
God's works are not meant to be a secret. It is His will that we speak. When God does a work in you people WILL notice something different about you. They'll want to know what you've got and how you got it. Here is where you come in - TELL them! Don't take the glory for yourself - you have shown, now you must tell how you got what you got.
3. The Content of Our Message
The content of our message should be the great things God has done - what are they?
Notice the one restriction - what God has done for YOU - personal experience. First, God must have done something for US or there is nothing to tell. Here is where we can really mess things up. Notice the verse says, "what great things God has done for you" and not what great things you are doing for God or what great things God has done for others. Unfortunately, a lot of our "witnessing" falls into this area. We either tell people what we are doing for God or we try and tell them what they should be doing for God. This is completely backwards. We are to tell what He has done for us. Acts 22:15 says, "for you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard." To "see" and to "hear" are to experience. John 3:11 Jesus says, "We speak what we know and testify what we have seen..." The Lord doesn't want us to speak of what we don't know and testify to what we haven't seen or be witnesses of things we've never seen or heard! To do so would be a lie. Prov. 14:25 says, "A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies." When we "witness" to things we truly have experienced we are true witnesses and souls will be delivered.
This verse really shook me up. It showed me that God wants to do great things in us, for us, and through us. He wants us to be eyewitnesses of His power and glory. He wants us to have something to tell.
Thought For Today:
Father, I want to be a true witness for you. I thank You for the great things You have done for me and I ask that You open my eyes to perceive even greater things than these. Let me be a true witness of Your love and mercy always.