Why do I have to tell people about God?

My grandma is 76 years old.

 She  lives in her house alone.

Walks down her basement stairs every time she needs to get laundry done.

  Does water aerobics weekly.

Walks at the Y weekly

Stays very active at her senior center.

She takes the bus everywhere because she has never had a license.

 She’s an inspiration to me and I love her so much. The other day we were talking and she told me how she went to visit an old friend that lived across the street from her when her boys were young.  This lady had four children and 2 husbands. All her children and both husbands have died. She is almost 90 years old.  My grandma said what my heart was saying, “ It has to be the worst to lose your children.”

Then Grandma went on to say that day she felt ready. Ready to leave this earth and join her loves in heaven.  She said that she feels peace because all her children know the Lord.

I thought about that. And that’s exactly how I would feel. I want my daughter to know the Lord and I pray now that she does.   Last Sunday at church the message was how it is every Christians responsibility to tell others about God.  All the excuses we make mean nothing, we have a duty to fulfill, and many of us shy away from it. 

Which brings me back to my grandma.  Every time I had a new boyfriend or a new friend ( we moved around a lot so I made lots of friends!) she would ask me, “ Do they know the Lord?” It never mattered to her what religion they were, if they went to church every Sunday, she just wanted to know if they knew the Lord. Many times I would answer "well yeah so and so goes to church".. and I never realized until later in life how important that question is and that going to church every Sunday is not a free pass on knowing God.

My grandma is asking the most important question and how sad is it, if that every new person we meet who doesn’t know the Lord, we just pull out an excuse on why we can’t tell them about Jesus?

In college I told people that I was a Christian. Yet I didn’t give 100 percent of my life to God. I still liked to have control.  I was still exercising my freedom of being 750 miles away from my parents.  Yet my dad loves Jesus so much and because of him and my mom I had Jesus in my heart.  

But I kept my excuses handy in my pocket and never hesitated to use them when I felt there was a time I could have witnessed to someone. I wanted to get over the feelings of embarrassment and mostly the fear of not knowing enough. 

I worried that someone would ask me something I didn’t have an answer for and then I worried what they would think of me.  Mostly in college I wanted to start going to church because guilt was my motivator, and honestly that isn’t always the best motivator.  I was having a lot of convictions at the time. I was split 50/50. I wanted to be close with God and tell others but I didn’t want to give up bad habits that made me feel comfort and apart of something. 

So when I wanted to tell someone about God my actions swelled up in my throat and I felt ashamed.  But God didn’t give up on me.  He just used a more drastic approach… for me I was stubborn. There were 3 times when I was feeling convictions and  was involved in 3 car accidents. ( I will post these experiences next)

The truth is when we give our life to Jesus and just say YES! We are excited about the ways he has changed things in our lives, in us right? When we say Yes to God’s word, Yes to prayer, yes to worship, he works in us, and because of his love for us amazing things happen, some call them miracles.

Although we are not to judge others, we are meant to tell others about Jesus. The harsh truth is what will happen when you die? When Judgment day comes upon you?

  The best news is, God knows you. He will help you speak to others to overcome whatever excuses you find yourself digging for.  He allows us to start over every day, get another chance.  So today I’ll pray that I can find the right words, keep my eyes open for the opportunity when someone needs to hear that Jesus is their savior. If you’re feeling guilt like I was, confess you sin. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Ask God to forgive you. Let him change your heart.  

Like most things the first time will feel crazy, and nerve racking and you may not say everything exactly how you hoped, but that’s ok. Because each time it gets easier and God will continue to work in your heart and you’ll be bringing others to heaven with you.

My dad and I had a great conversation the other day about heaven and being rewarded for what we do here on earth. He asked an interesting question, I’ll leave you with......

What happens when we get to heaven expecting to see a loved one and they are not there?

“When the son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels  with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepard separates the sheep from his goats. He will put the sheep on his right andgoats on his left. Then the King will say to those on His right, “ Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world….” Then He will say to those on his left, “ Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”.. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life( Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46.