And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who
was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the
faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness,
self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid
and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a
convenient time I will call for you.”
(Acts 24:24-25)
Food For Thought… The Apostle Paul was arguably the greatest evangelist Christianity has ever known. Yet he didn’t win them all—Governor Felix being a prime example.
Then again, winning everybody to Christ wasn’t Paul’s job, and it isn’t your job either. Only the Holy Spirit can bring conviction to the human heart. In this case, the Holy Spirit did his job: he took Paul’s words and produced deep conviction in Felix, whom verse 25 says, “was afraid.”
And only the person with whom faith is being shared can open the door of their heart to the truth. In this case, Felix didn’t. Verse 25 says that he found the demands of Christianity inconvenient, so he put off making a decision. And as far as we know, Felix never did cross over into faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul’s job was simply to initiate spiritual conversations with people when opportunities arose, and then leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit. That’s what your job is, and mine too. We are to look for opportunities to have spiritual conversations with people, and when those opportunities arise, we are to seize them, faithfully share what we know, and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit.
That takes a lot of pressure off, doesn’t it! You don’t have to pry open any evangelistic doors. The Holy Spirit will get those doors open for you. All you have to do is simply walk through them when they open. Nor do you have to close the deal. Only the Holy Spirit can produce saving conviction, and only the person who hears the message can open their heart to saving faith. It is not up to you to make the sale.
All you have to do is tell the story. All you have to do is to speak as a satisfied customer to what Christ has done in your life. All you have to do is to tell what you know—which may be a whole lot, or it might be very little. Just share what you know under the guidance of the Spirit in those moments of divine appointment and watch what God will do.
If I were a betting man, I would bet you that a door opens today where you and I will have opportunity to initiate a spiritual conversation.
What do you say we seize that moment to share what we know!
Prayer… Father, keep me alert to those moments today where the door will open to a conversation with someone about the greatest story ever told—the story of your saving love through Jesus Christ.
One More Thing… “Jesus Christ did not say, ‘Go into the world and tell the world that it is quite right.’”— C.S. Lewis
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