Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28:19-20
The Basic Bible Truth
We are each called to tell the world about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a translation published many years ago that was questionable on many areas, but one verse they got quite right. Using a southern vernacular, the verse read, “Seein’ as how you’re goin’, share the Good News”. That captures the essence of this verse. As we go through life, we need to share.
The Object
A Letter
The Lesson
We are commanded by Jesus to share the Good News with those that we meet each day, but also, there is an implication here that we are to make a concerted effort to reach out to the world that is not at our doorstep. God loves everyone, even those who have not heard because they live on a spiritually dark continent.
One of the most sobering thoughts found in the Bible, is a quote from Jesus. In the fourth chapter of John, we find Jesus talking to His disciples. He has just spent time with the Samaritan woman at the well, which became a turning point in her life. She went back to her hometown folks and told them what she had seen and heard, and because of her testimony, many of her acquaintances became believers as well. Jesus pulled His disciples aside and told them I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
That truth is the same today as it was then. When we get below the tough exterior, people not only need the Lord, they want Him and are often actively engaged in looking for something to fill the void in their lives. They just don’t always realize what it is that they need. We all have a God-shaped void in our lives. The Bible says that we are born with a sin nature—spiritually dead, and that part of us, needs to be made alive. Without it, we are empty and incomplete.
And I find no age limits in the Bible as to who can witness and who cannot. We have the story of a little slave girl telling the Gentile man named Naaman about God. And we have the story of an 80 year old man named Daniel, informing Belshazzar that God is in control of this world. We are not responsible for their acceptance or rejection of the truth, we are only asked to tell our own personal story to the world.
This letter is written in this same vein. An urging to us to share the gospel everywhere we go. Most people cannot read this, thinking it is written in another language, but I assure you that this is indeed English. Only the punctuation and spaces between words has been changed. Smoosh this whole letter back together, eliminate all periods and commas and paragraph notations, and reread it carefully, dividing the words where they were supposed to be separated in the first place. I believe it will make perfect sense to you then.