Stories
The need for passion
We repent of a lack of passion for Jesus Christ.
In the nineteenth century there was a dramatic revival on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Some years before this a young girl called Mary living on the island had heard a preacher quoting from the Psalms concerning eternity. Even though she was only eleven years old she developed a fear of dying but she also heard that God could save those heading for hell. Mary asked everyone she knew how she could find God and come to know him but even when she asked her parish minister she still could not find an answer. Some local people began to wonder if she was going mad, such was her passion to find the Lord.
Mary decided to visit the mainland believing that she would stand more chance of finding satisfactory answers to the burden of her soul. She walked fifty miles to board a boat to the mainland. When she arrived Mary walked a further fifty miles to a large town asking people to tell her about God and how to know him. Still she was not satisfied with the answers that she received there, so Mary walked another twenty five miles to Inverness, covering one hundred and twenty five miles in all in her sacred quest.
In Inverness she stopped a lady crossing a bridge and asked her urgently “Is God in this Town?” The woman was startled at the question but when Mary repeated the question in desperation, the lady was moved with compassion and took her to her own local Church. Mary heard the gospel of Jesus Christ there for the first time, she leapt from her seat during the sermon, shouting and clapping her hands, saying, “Now I understand!” and then remained seated for the rest of the service and was truly saved. Mary stayed and became a maid for the lady who was now her confidante and mentor. Later, after the death of the lady who had discipled Mary for many years, another girl came from Skye and joined Mary and she lived with her and was discipled in turn. The great revival that came later to the Isle of Skye was in no small part due to the prayers of these two young people.
What is our response?
In her search for truth Mary asked ‘Is God in this town?’ Many people could not answer her – even people professing to be Christians. What would be your response if such a thing were to happen to you today? If she was to meet you on the street and ask you, “Is God in this town? What would your answer be? If she was to knock on the door of your home today and ask you in desperation, “Is God in this house?” What would you say? If she was to walk into your Church and ask you, “Is God in this Church? Would her spiritual hunger be satisfied?
Do we testify?
We repent of our ‘fear of man’ which has silenced us.
In a recent survey in the United Kingdom only two percent of Christians said that they had ever led anyone to Christ for salvation. When you consider the ineffectiveness of this and think of the thousands of people who die in the UK every day without knowing Jesus, the excuses that we can come up with for not leading people to Christ seem feeble. One of the most common excuses I’ve heard is that Christians do not need to share their faith with others but that they only need to live out a Christian life and unbelievers will then see their good lifestyle and this will glorify the Father in Heaven.
Yes, it is important to live our life to honour God, but we can’t ignore the fact that the Bible says in Romans 10:14-15. ‘How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things.’
Jesus told us to preach the gospel and to be a witness by our actions and by our words. It is very important to share our faith. Romans 1:16 tells us that we should not be ashamed to share the gospel. The gospel is the power of God to bring salvation. The reality however is that if I share my faith in Jesus with people, I risk being rejected and misunderstood by family, friends and work colleagues. Nevertheless I must take that risk. God once spoke directly to me about this saying ‘what does it profit the people you seek to help if you feed the poor, house the homeless and yet they lose their souls because you haven’t proclaimed the gospel to them
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