Carpe Diem!
Do you ever find yourself thinking that evangelism, that is, telling someone about Jesus, is particularly difficult these days? After all, people in the 21st century are more resistant than ever to the good news about Jesus: it seems impossible that those who refuse to believe that there could be only one truth, should ever believe that Jesus is the only way to know God; it seems highly unlikely that those who believe only in reason and science would ever confess that Jesus died and rose again and is now reigning on high over all things as the divine Son of God. We like to think that evangelism was easier a couple of hundred years ago, and that a thousand years ago people were practically falling over themselves to follow Jesus.
Not so. God says that people not trusting in his Son, Jesus, are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). They can no more respond to God’s word than a block of wood can stand up and walk around… that is, until the Holy Spirit breathes spiritual life into their dead hearts. It has always required the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit for someone to respond to Jesus and to keep growing as a disciple of Jesus! And we live in the age of the Spirit. God has poured out his Spirit precisely so that hundreds and thousands of people will respond to the good news now just as they did in Paul’s day. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:1 of his (and our) period of history:
“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.”
Now! Today! God the Holy Spirit is bringing life to spiritually dead people as Christians like you and me tell what God has done through Jesus. What a great time to be alive! Who will you speak to about Jesus this week? Seize the day!