Isaiah 43
10“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. 11“I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. 12“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, and I am God.
Christian Responsibility
I think often as Christians, we have this notion of what we are responsible for that doesn’t fit with what God has asked of us. It is an unseen, unspoken burden that we unnecessarily place on ourselves. It is this idea that we must bring the lost people to church, get them saved and train or disciple them in the faith. We then feel extreme pressure when the work moves slowly or not at all and not many are saved. It becomes frustrating, which causes us to want to quit.
As we will see, this is an unnecessary burden. If we would simply quit trying to act in the place of God, we would find that this frustration will never occur.
Isaiah and Jeremiah were both prophets of God who spoke for God for many years with few tangible results. God never put the burden on them. In this passage we see not only what our job is, we also see the message and the reason.
First, let’s notice the job: We are God’s witnesses, chosen by Him.
What is a witness? One that tells or shares the information that they know.
In a legal court trial, is the witness responsible for convicting or acquitting the accused? Certainly not.
So where did we get the notion that salvation was our responsibility? We are supposed to know, believe and understand something and share what we KNOW, BELIEVE and UNDERSTAND with those we come into contact with!
Second, notice the message: What we are supposed to know, believe and understand is that the God of Israel is the only God, Creator, Master and He is the only one that provides salvation. There is NO SAVIOR besides Him.
Third, notice the reason: It is God who declared and saved so that He would have witnesses.
This thought is totally freeing. God has made us witnesses to simply share what He has taught us about Him so that He could save more people to become witnesses. But our job is only to TELL what we know, believe and understand and then leave the results in God’s hands. He is the one that declares and saves.
So the question arises, can you let God be the one who does the work or do you think that somehow you can do the telling and the convincing and even the saving?
Show the ultimate trust in God: Tell someone what you know, believe and understand about God and then let God handle the results!
What will happen? God will bless you for faithfulness even if He never saves the person you shared with. And after all, it is up to God who He saves anyway, not you!
10“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. 11“I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. 12“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, and I am God.
Christian Responsibility
I think often as Christians, we have this notion of what we are responsible for that doesn’t fit with what God has asked of us. It is an unseen, unspoken burden that we unnecessarily place on ourselves. It is this idea that we must bring the lost people to church, get them saved and train or disciple them in the faith. We then feel extreme pressure when the work moves slowly or not at all and not many are saved. It becomes frustrating, which causes us to want to quit.
As we will see, this is an unnecessary burden. If we would simply quit trying to act in the place of God, we would find that this frustration will never occur.
Isaiah and Jeremiah were both prophets of God who spoke for God for many years with few tangible results. God never put the burden on them. In this passage we see not only what our job is, we also see the message and the reason.
First, let’s notice the job: We are God’s witnesses, chosen by Him.
What is a witness? One that tells or shares the information that they know.
In a legal court trial, is the witness responsible for convicting or acquitting the accused? Certainly not.
So where did we get the notion that salvation was our responsibility? We are supposed to know, believe and understand something and share what we KNOW, BELIEVE and UNDERSTAND with those we come into contact with!
Second, notice the message: What we are supposed to know, believe and understand is that the God of Israel is the only God, Creator, Master and He is the only one that provides salvation. There is NO SAVIOR besides Him.
Third, notice the reason: It is God who declared and saved so that He would have witnesses.
This thought is totally freeing. God has made us witnesses to simply share what He has taught us about Him so that He could save more people to become witnesses. But our job is only to TELL what we know, believe and understand and then leave the results in God’s hands. He is the one that declares and saves.
So the question arises, can you let God be the one who does the work or do you think that somehow you can do the telling and the convincing and even the saving?
Show the ultimate trust in God: Tell someone what you know, believe and understand about God and then let God handle the results!
What will happen? God will bless you for faithfulness even if He never saves the person you shared with. And after all, it is up to God who He saves anyway, not you!
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