Finishing the Task

Acts 20:24 NIV

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

Have you ever had a secret so good that you were boiling over to tell someone?  Did you tell it or did you reluctantly keep it to yourself?  Secrets are not any good if we can't keep them.  But why do so many Christians act as if their Christian faith is such a big secret?  They hide their beliefs as if telling would break the greatest confidence in which they had ever been entrusted.

When I fully gave my life to Christ in my early 20s, I was excited, thrilled, emotional...yes, guys, we need to admit how being saved from a crappy lifestyle affects us.  I was ready to tell the world.  I had not heard of the story of Paul from the Bible.  Paul receives the salvation from Christ and spends time learning about his faith.   Not me.  I was dorky about it.  I told everyone "God bless you".  In fact I felt so convicted for not saying it to customer one time that I ran back inside and said it.  Brownie points baby!  I can't remember if they ordered from us again or not.

The point is I could not keep my faith to myself.  I did not care what others thought of me if I could tell them about Jesus.  The problem was I wasn't telling others anything except that I was excited about saying God bless.  I had a lot to learn about self-control and how to properly witness so the truth about Jesus was being heard.

Paul had only one aim - finish the race well which meant telling as many people as possible about the grace shown to those who accept Jesus as their Savior from the chains of sin. 

Testifying about faith takes exuberance, which I had, and it takes knowing how and when to tell the story of Jesus.  Running back into an office to say "God bless" does not tell the story.  My work ethic, my new way of life, and my new knowledge of Christ all played an important part in telling the story of Jesus.  I just needed to learn more, and I did.  I wasn't wrong ... just young in faith. 

 Now, I too am looking forward to completing the task of testifying about the grace that flows from Jesus.  Do not keep your faith a secret.  Learn how to share it and go for it.  How can anyone hear unless someone brings them the Good News?  Finish the race.  Who matters more you or Jesus?