Monday, November 15, 2010

#69 Caveat Emptor

Matthew 5:16 NASB "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Our world today is one that is consumer driven. Whatever consumers want the markets will produce. We want faster food, restaurants respond. We want smaller phones and computers, again the market responds. Anything we want we can find either in stores or online. The items of this world are at our fingertips and well within our grasp if we have the money to buy them.

But not all vendors of today’s goods are trustworthy. If you choose to buy something off the Internet through a web-based retailer or an auction site, you have to approach them with caution especially if the site you are browsing is not a major, well-known retailer. The Latin phrase caveat emptor must come to mind: “buyer beware”. In other words, be careful about what you buy and from whom you buy it. They may very well sell you some junk or take your money and leave you holding the Styrofoam-peanut-filled box in which your junk came.

Some people approach their spirituality in this same way. They may have come from a background where those professing the name of Christ did not live in such a way as to glorify Christ. Perhaps their experience with Christians was witnessing them in their weak moments or when they were questioning their faith. Whatever may have happened, there are those in this world who approach God and faith in Him with extreme caution if they approach at all. They are afraid that becoming a Christian means they are being duped or taken advantage of. They hear sirens go off in their mind when they are around Christians and they scream to themselves “Buyer beware, buyer beware!"

How do we work to change this mentality? I firmly believe that we change it in one way by the way we live our lives. If you and I are committed Christians who live surrendered lives and who let Jesus put together the pieces of our existence then we can present a picture of godliness to the world that makes them want to take a second glance at the God of heaven. Committed Christians who live in the world without assimilating and becoming like the world do more for the cause of God than all the sermonizing done each week in pulpits around the world.

Your life lived to glorify Christ brings down barriers, softens hearts, open eyes, peaks interest, and ultimately serves to draw people close to the One who can save them. Yes, it is the Holy Spirit who works through us to accomplish these things, but God’s Spirit wants Christians who can serve as conduits of grace to a rebellious planet. You and I can be those conduits, you and I can be the ones whom Jesus speaks through to save perishing souls all around us. How will you respond? Will you be or remain a sketchy, hypocritical, faithless Christian who causes "buyers to beware" or will you choose to be a trustworthy, gracious, willing servant of the Lord Jesus so that the world might see Christ and be drawn to Him?

Buyers--those seeking more from life--should never have to beware around God’s people. Live today in honor of Christ and He will honor you before His Father and all the hosts of heaven. Live today and everyday henceforth with a solid resolve to present Christ and living for Him in the best possible light as you are filled with His Spirit. Strive to be a Christian whom seekers will be willing to approach. Jesus will bless this type of life and use you to bless others.

Dear Father,

We thank You for loving us so much and for Your willingness to work through us to save others. Forgive us where we have failed to rightly represent You, and please use us to lift up Christ in all that we do. We pray in His holy name, Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment