In reading My Utmost For His Highest on this day, the great commission is the subject. The familiar verses found in Matthew 28:19 says "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The key word here is GO! The question is where am I to GO? I love what Oswald Chambers said in his book. "Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings, none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself....and that is how to keep going till we're gone."
One might read the great commission and feel that they must go to another land, another place in order to carry out the command of Christ. As Brother Oswald says.."Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings." First Corinthians verse seventeen says; "Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him." In other words we should not be anxious to change our location or our vocation in order to carry out our calling to take the gospel to the world. I believe we are to stay right where we are unless strongly compelled by God to follow Him to another area or to a new vocation or ministry. Knowing that God is calling is the subject for another day but suffice it to say in the words of Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God).."that if you want to know the will of God for your life....then do what you know is the will of God." In other words do those things that we know God (from His Word) has called us to do. If we do this the direction, the location and the vocation will be revealed to us in due time.
Just before Christ proclaimed the Great Commission to His disciples they had joined Him in the mountains of Galilee and there they worshipped Him. In other words they spent some time with God before He called them to go (Matthew 28:16). It is no different for us. We must spend quality time with God before we are to go forth and proclaim His Word. In order to have a fresh message that is accepted by those around us we must spend time each day with God. In doing so we learn to know where God is leading us and what He would have us to do.
Now back to the GO of today's writing. We are to go to work, go to school, go shopping and go out among those people in our circle of influence. We are to live Christ amongst these people. Sometimes it will take an extended time with people before they are ready to hear our message. Having gone through various evangelistic programs including Evangelism Explosion, etc. I have found that to be to anxious (wanting to reach people on our timetable) does not always work. One first has to earn the respect of those he wants to reach out to. This is relationship building and it will in fact take some time. A second criteria is to be alert to where God is at work. I have found that many spiritual conversations with non believers takes place when the person asks a simple question about our faith or maybe something he or she heard that is in the Bible. Conversations also begin from something that occurs in our society. Patience and being alert to God at work are keys to knowing the right time to present our gospel.
So the GO is all about being prepared to do God's work in our world. Being prepared begins by spending time each day with God....in His Word. Step two is knowing that right now you are where you need to be and we need to not worry about where we need to go. When God is ready to move us to a new location or vocation, He will orchestrate this. Step three is to simply live a Godly life in front of others and to raise our spiritual antennae and be aware of where God is at work and join Him in His work. The going is not always easy but if we are not going we are standing still. As Brother Oswald says "keep going till we are gone."
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