Do you ever feel ashamed of the lack of sanctification in your life?  Does that keep you from telling someone about Jesus?  Afraid to promote the cause of Christ because you can’t point to much visible difference He has made in your life?

Last Friday at the gym I listened to a podcast as I was doing my stretching routine.  What the pastor explained liberated me from that mouth-shutting fear and set my thinking right.

All along, I have thought:

“If I tell someone who really knows me the Good News about how God came to Earth to save us from our sins, that person will probably find me hypocritical.  All he or she has to do is contrast my DECLARATION that Jesus has made a difference in my life with RECOLLECTIONS of past unkind remarks I might have made to them, an aspect of my selfish attitude, my self-centeredness…..you name it.”

These thoughts have worked together to keep me from taking advantage of opportunities to talk about God.

But the Good News is NOT about the differences in ME that others can see.  The actual change is something INVISIBLE, that is not physically noticeable to material beings/ aka those who are alive and walking around in bodies.

The enmity barrier between God the Father and each one of us is REMOVED when we turn from our dead, futile works of trying to make ourselves acceptable, when we put our trust in CHRIST’s righteousness offered to us.

You can’t see either the wrath hanging over an unbeliever’s head, but it is there!  You can’t see the Holy Spirit implanted forever into the heart of a believer, but He is there!

So what we are free to share JOYFULLY & ENTHUSIASTICALLY & FREELY is that by  receiving this gift of mercy, all our sins (past, present and future) have been forever nailed to the cross when Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced and fastened to that wood.

My life doesn’t have to be exemplar before I open my mouth.  It’s not about me.  It’s about Him and what He has done for me, for you!  That takes the pressure off.

Has being added to God’s Forever Family made a difference in my life, that is – my actions and attitudes?  Yes!  But a lot of that is still being worked out as my mind is being renewed and changed.  Although I received the Holy Spirit implanted in me at age 24, I didn’t start to grow until joining Bible Study Fellowship the fall after my 40th birthday.  Fossilized thought patterns and resultant actions take a while to be transformed.

As the saying goes, “First God catches fish and then He cleans them”.  So go ahead  now and tell other fish you encounter about the most marvelous Fish Food imaginable.  About the Fisherman-Artist who…… once He pulls you out of dead, stinky waters, puts you into Fresh water and starts lovingly crafting you into a new creation.