Digging Answers

I Peter 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Colossians 4:6  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Proverbs 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.   

It is generally agreed that a Christian should embrace the Great Commission and bring the Gospel of Christ unto the world.  In fact, Christ did not only encourage, but commanded it before his ascension.  Yet, to focus on the Gospel message alone and to pursue it with single-mindedness can limit its reception. 

Oh, but the Holy Spirit does the work on each person’s heart!  Certainly, He does.  But, this does not grant us the authority to be unprepared, ineffectual, or erratic in witnessing to others.

Before Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem and approached the Cross, he was known for giving answers.  If there is any phrase more repeated before the red letters begin, it is “Jesus answered”.  In some way or another Jesus answered the questions, concerns, criticisms, rebuttals, and attacks thrown at him from many tongues.  Part of Jesus’ ministry was to give answers.  Before the final answer of the Gospel, Jesus, simply, answered.

From not only the example of Jesus can we surmise that one of a Christian’s great responsibilities is to be able to give answers.  The Old Testament is full of answers given to the lost and rebellious by righteous men of God.  This practice did not stop with the Old Testament but continued into the New.  Every Apostle had answers and every disciple studied to have answers. 

When we find ourselves in a dilemma we begin searching for answers to the situation.  Many times we find answers in the Bible, but with study, we could find the answer to any problem lying, hidden, between and in lines of scripture.  It is our responsibility to go digging in the scripture.  Anyone who will set aside the time to go digging in God’s garden of wisdom will gain the knowledge for everyday life and more.

Not only does the answer to problems lie in each page, but it is the best “how-to” book you will ever own.  With God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, (most essential), and due diligence a person can learn to live a more abundant life, in every way. 

And what of these weird questions people come up with to waylay any attempt at witnessing?  Study the Bible and have an answer!  An honest and pure answer is better than an honest, “I don’t know”.  Which do you think would cause someone to listen more closely to the Gospel, a real answer or sidestep? 

How committed are you to having that answer?  You know; the one answer which will lead into the Gospel presentation.  We should know and harbor no excuse. 

If Christian’s don’t dig for the answers, where will the Lost find them?  Can you imagine a world without Gospel messengers? 

When was the last time you went digging?