God's Redemptive Plan...Continued from page 1

In our witness we don't necessarily need to work harder, we need to work smarter. We don't need a new presentation, or a new program, or a new instruction, or a new training program. We just need to allow the power to be unleashed in our lives.

We Christians, myself included, are like the lady that took a first aid course. She was trained and equipped in all the proper procedures and mechanics in giving first aid. On the last night of the course the instructor ask if anyone had had an opportunity to use their training. This lady raised her hand. "Tell us about," replied the instructor. "Well, the other night there was a terrible accident in front of my house. Quickly I ran out to see. I saw a man slumped over the steering wheel of his car. His face had hit the windshield. He was scratched and cut. His right arm was lacerated with blood oozing out. It was horrible," the lady said.

"What did you do?" asked the instructor.

"I remembered my first aid," said the lady. "I knew if I put my head between my legs I wouldn't faint."

Peter Marshall, the famed Presbyterian minister, would say, "We Christians encased in suits designed for many fathoms deep are marching bravely to pull out plugs in bathtubs."

We have the power, we have the equipment, we have the instruction. We just need to use it.

The obligation. Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses." The verb is in the imperative mood. It is a command. There is no choice. Jesus did not say, "Please witness," or "try to witness," or "if you feel like it witness," or "when you finally feel competent then witness." There is no witness protection program with God. Jesus was implying that you and I would be his witnesses, period.

Here's the point: We are either obedient or disobedient witnesses.

Notice Jesus did not say "You will go to witness" or "You will do witnessing." He said, "You will be my witnesses." We are witnesses. Witnessing is not just something we do; it is something we are. We don't go to witness, we witness as we go. With every breath we take, with every word we utter, with every action we make, we are witnessing. It's been said that when Stanley discovered Livingstone in Central Africa and had spent some time with him, he said, "If I had been with him any longer I would have been compelled to be a Christian and he never spoke to me about it at all." The witness of his life, his being, was irresistible.

The representation. Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses." As followers of Jesus Christ, we represent Christ. We witness on behalf of Jesus. Our witness is for him and about him.

If you have ever visited the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, you have noticed that on the wall near the main entrance is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham ? no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom."