Personal Evangelism Becomes Personal to Me

After spending a magnificent vacation in Florida, some relatives and I declared that it must become a tradition to return again when possible. The scenery was breathtaking, and we knew that we could never tire of the location. While talking with some of the locals we found out that many of them had moved there from all over the United States so they could take in the beautiful scenery throughout the year. Some would say it might be boring to only see the same surroundings day after day, but those who lived there didn't think so. They loved it to the extent that there is nowhere else they'd rather live.

When I thought about the strong appreciation those people had for their location, it made me think about the world of Christians. The scenery is the Gospel-- Jesus Christ giving His life so that sinners could have a relationship with God for eternity. When we realize just what was required by Jesus, and understand our wickedness, we are overwhelmed with the picture and see that there is no way but God's way. Thirsty for more understanding of such an incredible God, we think that there is nowhere else we'd rather be than in the presence of God through His Word and in His house, and at first we are truly committed to continual admiration and study. But after some time passes, though we still believe the truths we've learned about God, we become distracted by other scenery. The realities of life begin to fill our thoughts and time and we forget to look at the scenery we found so beautiful at the first. The Gospel becomes our past-- something we begin to think of as mainly for unbelievers-- and we begin to look for new scenery that we think will be a more beneficial view than where we are now. There are a couple of reasons why this happens:

• After putting our trust in Christ as Savior, we have a tendency to move quickly on to other things without realizing that the Gospel has an incredible depth that we could study for years and it would never grow old. We start to say things like, "I already know that. What about now?" Before Jesus died on the cross, He spent time with the disciples explaining the events that would unfold. They didn't fully understand then, and even after His resurrection, they didn't grasp everything. The Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus' ascension to help believers grow in understanding, but the Bible tells us that even "now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Corinthians 13:12) We must continually pursue the message of the Gospel to deepen our understanding.

• It's interesting how we can trust Christ with our eternal souls, but still question His work from day to day! This is often because we forget that the belief required to come to Christ for salvation is the belief we're to have every day--"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him." (Colossians 2:6) Why is it so hard to remember and act on this? Because we don't take the time to remind ourselves of that incredible Gospel message.

The road to maturity can be overwhelming and difficult, yet when we continually refresh ourselves with the Gospel, we will quickly remember that no matter what, the greatest difficulty has already been overcome. We've been redeemed through Christ's death!

This scenery should be our daily view, the place where we want to live our entire lives! Let's not turn our backs on the view!