WHAT ARE YOUR SIGNS?

Acts 8:6

"When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said."

This is the typical sequence of an effective (or conversely ineffective) witness: people hear what you say; they look for the signs of God which are evidenced in your life based on what you have done and what you are doing; they then decide whether or not to pay attention to what you say. In Phillips case -- after they saw what he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.

Our church recently had Doug Smith speak at one of our Men's Community breakfasts. Doug, as you may know, is a great Christian man, father, husband, athlete, and coach. Over his 14 year professional football career he was a six-time Pro Bowl center for the Los Angeles Rams. Let's say for example, that Doug and I were speaking at a football technique clinic. Between Doug and I, who would you pay the most attention to? If we disagreed on a technique, whose opinion would you trust the most? The answer is clear. You would trust Doug because he has both the credentials and experience. His words would have so much more impact and importance than mine because of what he has done and what he is doing (he is also an offensive line coach for a local college, while I on the other hand have not played football since high school).

The same is true for us as we witness to others. Some big questions we need to ask ourselves are these: Are people going to "pay attention" to what we say if the substance of what God has done or is doing in our lives is not evident? How effective will our words be if the last evidence or miracle we witnessed in our life was back in "high school" (in other words, a really long time ago)?

How current is your testimony? Are you a witness to a miracle that happened years ago, or one that happened yesterday? Are you allowing God to express himself through your witness and experience right now? Why or why not? What needs to change? How will you change?

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