WITNESSING

Acts 4:20

“It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

My mother still remembered what happened. She saw a man entered our house… through the window. That man is looking for something. Fear crept through her body and pretended to be sleeping. The man then went downstairs, took some small things and when out through our main door. Afterwhich, she immediately woke up my father and told him what happened. My father immediately called the police. The thief was caught as my mother was able to recognize his face (and he was a neighbor!). She witnessed it and her story was enough to have that man jailed.

The disciples of Jesus, after receiving the Holy Spirit, have started sharing the good news. Many tried to disprove their pronouncements about the risen Lord, but those disbelievers only tried in vain. The disciples are first-hand witnesses and have seen, touched and heard Jesus after rising again from the dead. As material witnesses, no one can dispute their integrity and so the Christian faith spread faster than one can ever imagine. They witnessed for Him and were even willing to die for Him so His Words can be shared to all.

We are not first-hand witnesses to the Lord’s resurrection, that is true. But this should not stop us from witnessing for the Lord. We live today because of Him and shall die for Him and for things that He stands for: love and peace.

So, we must ask ourselves again, who are we? And, for whom do we witness? I hope and pray each one of us is a good witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we're not completely there, then I pray that each of us would receive the Holy Spirit, even to overflowing. And in this overflowing, we would lead others to Christ, and not just to His name, but also to His peace, and His love, and His compassion.

Almighty Father, Jesus is calling me to a new beginning; to a fresh call to discipleship. You are asking me to deny myself, take up my cross and follow you. It was at my baptism that you claimed me as your child. Today, I affirm that I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. I surrender my will, my desires and my life to you, O God. I commit myself to your call to discipleship: to pray, study your Word, worship you, invite other people to a life of discipleship.

I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me.