Can you imagine the IMPACT if every Christian listened to the still small voice of God everyday of their lives! Every church would be different and the world would see an immediate IMPACT. People would be drawn to Christ in record numbers! C.S. Lewis wrote: “The church exists for nothing else but to draw men to Christ, to make them into little Christ’s. If they [church] are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became a man for no other purpose.”
When a church is not drawing people to Christ it is an insult to the incarnation because that is why Jesus came to planet earth. He came to SEEK and SAVE those that are lost.
Acts 8 tells the story of a man almost 2,000 years ago who obeyed the voice of God delivered by an angel (verse 26), and later the Spirit of God (verse 29), giving what seemed to be very strange instructions. The result was a DIVINE ENCOUNTER that resulted in a man receiving salvation, a continent receiving a gospel witness and God receiving great glory.
In a divine encounter God always prepares the heart of the seeker because that is His part. We are introduced to a eunuch from Ethiopia who had all the authority of Queen Candice. She trusted him with all her finances. He had risen from being her slave to becoming her personal business manager, treasurer, and confidant. However, the fact that he was a very important person did not quench the thirst in his heart. His position and power did not satisfy him. He traveled all the way from his country in Africa, up through Egypt, and along the Mediterranean coast to Jerusalem. Why? He was searching for the true God. He must have tried the many religions of Africa. Surely, he checked out the multiple gods of Egypt. He had gone right on past the Canaanite gods of Philistia and Gaza. But, when he got to Jerusalem, the religious capital of the world, what did he find? He found in Judaism only an empty shell of religion. God had removed his presence before the Babylonian captivity; even his Ark was missing from the Temple then. Alas, he was returning like he came: empty, still hungry for the Bread of Life and thirsty for the Water of Life.
That is where we become a part of the story! People need somebody to care enough to chase down their chariots and tell them the only way to lasting peace is a personal, daily relationship with Jesus Christ. They need someone to tell them that religion will leave them empty but Jesus will fill every longing of their heart!
When the chariots pull up in the parking lots of our chapels and churches and the drivers enter our premises, what will they find? Do they find more empty rituals that doesn't satisfy their longing or will they find the Spirit of God alive and real among genuine people of faith? Jesus looked into the faces of hurting, hungry people and commanded his disciples, "Give ye them to eat!" Did you know that Christians have the franchise on the Bread of Life? If we don't distribute it, the world will never know the fullness of salvation.
It is our responsibility to LISTEN to the still, small voice of God and trust Him to prepare the heart of those seeking after Christ.
