Getting started.

-by Dale Brandeberry

For many years, I waited for the perfect time to tell others about Jesus.   

I had friends who knew I was a Christian, but sadly many did not.  I always hoped there would be a perfect opportunity to tell them about Jesus.  Sometimes an opportunity would arise and I would share the Gospel with them, but many of my friends never heard about Jesus from me.   

The longer I knew my friends, the harder it became to bring up the subject of Jesus.  I secretly feared they would reject me if I started talking about the Lord, and this kept me silent.  Once in a while I would share Jesus with a person in need and he would accept the Lord, but those moments were very rare.    

I was in a rut and I didn’t know how to get out. 

Finally, a few years ago I took it to the Lord, because I knew God did not want me to be a closet Christian. 

The message to me from God was very strong.  You are not involved in the lives of others because you don’t love me enough.  If you loved me, you would love them and care enough about their salvation to tell them what Jesus did for them, and you would not wait to tell them the truth.    

I was crushed and confessed my sin to the Lord.  I asked him to give me the love that I didn’t have.  He was faithful and started shaping my heart day by day.    

One day shortly after my confession, the Pastor called.  He was out of town and wanted me to go to the jail to visit a church member’s son.   I didn’t want to go and said I was busy.  After getting off of the phone, I sat down with the intention of an evening with Monday Night Football.   

I heard my Lord say, What are you doing tonight that is so important that you can’t take time to share Jesus with someone at the jail?   

I called the Pastor back and told him I would go.   

When I obeyed, the Lord caused me to love someone I had considered unlovable. He showed me if I really cared about others, I would make sharing Jesus with them my Number One Priority.   I started looking for opportunities to share Jesus and studying ways to share about Him more effectively.   

The more I shared Jesus with others the more my love for Him grew, and that caused me to love others more and want to share Jesus even more.    

I am reminded as I write this that I have not yet finished the race, but I am no longer standing on the starting line wondering where everyone went.

What do you need to do to at least get started telling others about Jesus?