After Jesus’s resurrection, He spent 40 days with His disciples and others before he ascended to heaven. One of the last things he told His disciples comes to us in Acts 1:8.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – (NKJV)
And all of a sudden, with one verse, at the very end of Christ’s time on earth, we as believers have a very specific calling on our lives.
To be a witness. Everywhere.
By contemporary definition a witness is an; attestation of a fact or event:TESTIMONY. (Websters)
However, when we look in the Greek at the word “witnesses” that Christ used in Acts 1:8, it takes us to a deeper place. Witness in the Greek is the word Martoos, meaning of uncertain affinity. It’s where we get the word and idea of being a Martyr.
In fact, Mounce’s concordance defines it this way – One who witnessed unto death!
Wow! We just went from playing in the shallow end of the pool to diving head first into the deep end when it comes to being a witness. Christ wants us as believers to understand that we have a specific calling. We don’t even have to pray and ask God what it is. He tells us, “Be my witness”. In your own home, at your job with your co-workers, with your neighbors on your street, around town as your rub shoulder with people, to your server at the restaurant… you are called to be my witness! Even in the face of adversity, affliction and death!
Matthew 5:14-16 encourages us this way, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
You may be thinking, “what difference can I, by myself make in this big world?”
Let me task you with a simple exercise to show you just how important you are. Go into your bedroom and make it as pitch black as you possibly can. Then turn on a basic bedside lamp or even the flashlight on your phone. Take a moment and take in how one very small and simple light can illuminate a room and provide light for anyone so they would not bump into objects and they could enter and leave without hurting themselves. ONE small light!
That is the very power you have as a believer when you put your light on a stand so the world can see. Your simple and basic light can change the whole atmosphere even in a large room. It’s a mustard seed. It’s a grain of wheat. God in His supernatural ability meets us in our faithfulness and makes our simple light shine like the sun in people’s lives around us.
It’s time to take your light out from under the basket and let it give light to those around you.
It’s time for the dark world around you to see the bright light in you.
It’s time to be a witness!
