October 23, 2018 (Tuesday)
“..If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
In yesterday’s blog, we told about a great servant of God who witnessed to everyone who would listen to him. As he and others watched theTitanic sink,many were about to die. The man in that story was a real person who received Christ as Savior as many died all around him. Miraculously he somehow was saved from drowning. Several years later he testified that he was eternally grateful for the witness of John Harper, faithful servant of the Lord, who had showed him the way to Eternal life.
One of the greatest men I’ve known through the years was Wilson Dedmon, a wonderful deacon in several churches through the years. I happened to be his pastor in the last church he joined before he went to be with the Lord. He became burdened for a neighbor, and after much prayer, felt led to go to that man and tell him about Jesus and the salvation he freely offers to all who will believe. The man would not listen at first, and told my dear brother in Christ to leave his home, but Brother Dedmon firmly told him, “I cannot leave until I have told you what I came to tell you. I am an ambassador for Christ, and I am here at his direction, so I must deliver this message.” He continued to witness to the man, who did not accept Christ that day, but I firmly believe that he did later, as the precious seed sown by his neighbor and friend took root in his heart.
God has called all his children to be his ambassadors in a strange and foreign land, filled with people who deny God’s power and possibly even deny His existence. We are called to love all people and to share with them the best news ever given: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, and whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life! (John 3:16).”