BE PREPARED TO GIVE AN ANSWER
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth"
The big old oak tree I was leaning against was probably one hundred and fifty years old. If it could tell stories, I wonder where it would begin. Because my father was a local historian I had an idea of what that tree could say.
Looking back two hundred years, the first white settlers began moving into this area. Back then there were elk, buffalo, and Native Americans roaming the land. From the book 'Trails of a Paintbrush' I read that in the late 1840s, the Nicholas Brewer Family settled along the banks of the Root River, only a mile from where I sat. Ten years later the Nichols and Cotter Stagecoach Line began serving the area and its trail went right across the ridge, through the middle of our property. In 1862 the Dakota Sioux uprising occurred and at about the same time a Baptist and a Methodist church opened their doors, in the little village of High Forest, less than a mile from this very spot. Before there were churches, circuit-riding preachers would come through the area and share the gospel with locals. They were early Minnesota traveling evangelists.
Matthew 28:19-20
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit 20 teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you [always, to the end of the age."
Most of us aren't now, or ever will be circuit-riding preachers, but we all could be, and should be, those that share a Gospel message at every opportunity... however and whenever possible.
Today God's word is still being spread from church pulpits, on billboards, on television, and by social media platforms like X, YouTube, and Facebook. But the scriptures tell us that you and I are asked to personally share the good news. Each of us is asked to give an answer when asked.
1 Peter 3:15: "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
Be ready with an answer.
Help achieve the mission - GIVE today
Click the button to sign up for Dean’s Daily Devotional. FREE and delivered daily.