Every morning between 4-6 am, my 10-month-old lab stands by the front door and hits the bells with his nose indicating he would like to go potty. Every morning, I open the door to the complete darkness of early morning and he just stands there for a few seconds sniffing the air. Once his sniffer assesses the air, he trots out to do his business.
He is so brave.
Nearly every morning I think about just how brave he is. I certainly don’t want to step out into the darkness every morning to relieve myself. We live in the country…do you have any idea what types of critters are hanging out around our house?!?!?! There could be racoons, opossums, coyotes, spiders…lions…tigers…bears!!!! Not to mention the bad guy or the zombie that could leap out of the woods!!!
He sniffs the air and then proceeds about his task. He’s brave.
I want that type of bravery in regards to sharing the Gospel. I want to “sniff the air” and proceed with telling people about Jesus. However, more often than not, I allow my fear of the “critters in the yard” to dissuade me from stepping out into the darkness.
In John 20:21 (NASB), we read, “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be to you; just as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” In this passage, there is clear direction that He is specifically sending us to share the good news.
Furthermore, He tells us in Matthew 4:19 that once we choose to follow Him, we will be made as fishers of men. There is a task associated with being a Christ-follower…and that task includes sharing the gospel.
From a knowledge perspective, I understand this. I know the scripture, I know my responsibility in relation to this task, and I know how I should proceed. The issue comes into play when I allow the fear of rejection or judgement of man to overshadow the need to proclaim Jesus as my Savior. In order to combat this fear, I am committing to memorizing and implementing Romans 1:16 (ESV) “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
This next week I plan to be brave, like my puppy. I will sniff the air and then proceed out the door to proclaim the Gospel and what Jesus has done in my life. Will you join me?
~Emily
Iron Porch 