LEARNING DAILY

John 4:39, Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did”.

The weekend was the last week of teaching about Jesus meeting a woman by well in Samaria. It was a great reminder about the importance of each Believer’s testimony regarding Jesus saving and changing them. It is important to be reminded that each person who has been saved by Jesus has a testimony that may help someone else find their relationship to Jesus. She went to the city from where she came, and “told them what Jesus had done for her” (Pastor Newton). Her testimony resulted in the Samaritans going to Jesus themselves. As Jesus used this woman, He will use each Believer to share what He has done for him/her.

I want each reader of this blog to think about who led you to Jesus. Was it something they said to you or was it the way the person lived their life. There are certainly those people who live their life in a way that people are drawn to them to find out what is different about them. What is your story; that is your testimony.  1 Peter 3:15 reminds us we are to, “always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (from the Listener Guide). If you have read this blog for a while, you will know I have said this before. Several pastors I have listened to have prophetically spoken that a time is coming when the Lord is going to bring people who are prepared to share this hope Peter is writing about. This time may be very near as evil grows around us.  

The weekend message was about sharing that hope, about being able to tell others what Jesus has done for you. It might be a scary thought for you. What are you going to say to someone who wants to know what is different about you. I must admit that approaching someone about Jesus, about asking them where they think they will spend eternity is not something I do easily. But I have found once a conversation is started, words flow pretty easily.

Pastor Newton made it clear that when we share what Jesus did to save and change us does not need to be a discussion of every sinful thing you have ever done. I was thankful for that because – well I was just thankful for that. It is enough to tell them that Jesus changed “your direction” by giving you new ways of thinking and changing what you desire. I relate to that as I think back over the changes that occurred right away and how over the years, I have lost interest in habits I had before Jesus entered my life. The impact that Jesus has on our lives is different for each of us because our lives are different. “Each of us is seeking something to fill the needs and desires of our lives” (Ed Newton). It is when we meet Jesus that those ways of filling the need(s) changes. Sharing that change becomes our testimony.

The testimony of the woman at the well brought many others to Jesus. They then could say they believed because they each had met Jesus personally. Each of you reading this blog is the “evidence” of what meeting Jesus can do in your life. I know how Jesus changed me and continues to change me and I am so thankful for what He has done and continues to do as I walk with Him on a narrow way. What about you? Be the light of Jesus to others through your life and through the words you speak. Be prepared to tell others what Jeus has done for you and wants to do in the life of those He sends into your life. What a blessing it is to plant a seed in the life of another or to be given the opportunity to lead a person to Jesus.

“Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” Jesus speaking to His disciples in John 4:35b.