Christians Start Your Engines

I was driving to work the other morning and I passed the firehouse near my apartment. The fire truck was out in the driveway with all it’s doors and compartments open and it looked like the fireman might be getting ready to wash it. I thought to myself he must be keeping himself busy, how messy can the truck get when it’s not used all the time? (Thank God)
The Holy Spirit reminded me that the firemen have to make sure the truck is always ready to go. He can’t wait until there’s a call to make sure all the equipment is ready. If a house is burning it’s not a good time to make sure the battery is still charged or the tires have air in them. It needs to be ready to move out and put out a fire on a moments notice. The engine of that truck needs to be checked constantly to make sure it can do the job it’s made for, saving lives.
The Lord reminded me that’s how we as Christians are supposed to be.
He brought to mind 1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
We need to be ready to share about Jesus when we meet people that need to hear about Him. If you meet someone at school and they start asking you about your faith and you can’t answer them what does that say about your relationship with God? If you bring them a CD from your church service that’s good but what will it say about your personal relationship?
It amazes me how many Christians don’t know how to share their testimony. If this makes you feel uncomfortable maybe this is an area you need to spend more time in.
The verse in 1 Peter says be ready to give the reason you have hope.
If ever we lived in a time where people need hope it’s now.
I was watching TV tonight which is something I don’t usually do and here’s why. As I was clicking the channels my choices were stupid shows about celebrities and what time they went to the bathroom or what they had for dinner, nonsense, or the news. The news had one murder after another. I had to shut it off and remembered why I don’t turn it on.
I gotta tell you in those few minutes I became completely overwhelmed with the amount of evil in this world.
I had to remind myself there was a reason I still had hope and that reason was Jesus.
At work yesterday a man came into my office to get a policy and I could tell he was in emotional pain. I started asking him questions to see if he wanted to talk and he did. He told me about his children, 2 in prison and one just got out. He was recently divorced and starting over here in Florida. A few times his eyes filled with tears as he spoke. He was so distraught over the decisions he and his children had made.
I could have just listened to him and told him I felt bad but would he have left with any hope?
Probably not.
I told him I knew from experience what it was like to have a prodigal son and then I shared the reason I didn’t lose hope. I shared the power of prayer with him and the power of God’s love for not just his kids but him too.
I invited him to church and told him about the care groups my church offers on Monday nights. I told him about the large mens group that meets on Tuesday nights and not only would he get a great meal he would have support from other men.
I was ready to share the hope I have.
I’m not patting myself on the back I’m just giving you an example of why you need to keep your engine ready to rescue someone whose burning.
If your not ALWAYS ready then you may need a tune up. What I mean is say something in obedience and give the Holy Spirit something to work with. For example;
A long time ago my oldest daughter was on a plane and there was a man in the seat next to her. She said she knew she was supposed to say something to him but she had no idea what it was so she said the first thing that came out. Can you tell she’s my kid.
She looked at the man and said “The worship leader at my church could be a radio announcer because he has a really deep voice.”
He looked at her like oh great I’m sitting next to a nut job.
This amazing piece of information was in no way going to save a life nor would it give hope for anything, however, she was obedient at putting herself out there and today she is always ready to give a reason for the hope she has in Christ. We have no idea what the Holy Spirit did with that but I'm sure He did something :)
The funny thing is if someone asked you about something you were passionate about like sports or shopping you would have no problem talking to a complete stranger.
So Gems let’s take the verse in 1 Peter seriously. Christians start your engines and let’s give some hope to a world that's so desperate to hear it!