Where I Am
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26).
Recently, I was discussing with a brother about how my life changed one afternoon in August of 1978. I was in, what I noted later, was the last stages of some pretty serious rebellion. I was working at the Tennessee State Fair at a food booth at the time. A young lady and a young man approached my booth and ordered some lunch. After conversing with her I was very glad to learn the young man was her brother! I asked her if I could call her later and ask her out for a date, to which she agreed. Well, to make a long story short, after dating her for several months I was converted to Christ, and we married the next summer. We are now in our thirty-ninth year. However, the most important change was my conversion to the Lord!
What might have happened if I had not met her? What would the state of my soul be today if I had not started attending the Pond Creek, TN Church of Christ? What if I had never met and heard the wonderful words of the gospel from those brothers who taught in that congregation? Well, I cannot say for sure, but my guess is that I would have probably never become a Christian. I certainly would not be an evangelist among the Lord’s congregations. However, by the mercy and grace of God I did meet Becky. I was introduced to the best people the Lord can produce—His people. It all started that September afternoon so many years ago.
I am reminded of the above words from the Lord, “Where I am, there my servant will be also.” The Lord was there at that food booth I was working at through Becky’s, and her family’s, faith. He was present through the various Christians when I began attending the Pond Creek church. He was there in the lives of the many Christians I met among the Iowa churches when we moved there in 1983. He has been in the lives of His people throughout this world every time I had contact with them since. And He will continue to be.
And the thing that is truly interesting is that it did not actually start with Becky. It started with Christ with His influence upon His apostles. They then had a direct influence upon the first christians beginning in Acts 2 as they preached the new gospel of Christ. 3,000 souls were added to the body that day and multitudes have been added to His kingdom since. Even though Christ was in Heaven, He was there in Acts 2 through the lives of His apostles, and He continues to be here on earth through the lives of His people scattered throughout this world.
When we, as His people, go about our daily lives, we are having a positive effect on those around us if we are living and walking by faith. As the verse stated above, where we are, there is Christ. It is like a cycle that began with Jesus and has continued since and will continue until Christ comes again. What a glorious promise and assurance! And is especially so in light of this wicked and adulterous generation we live in, for Christ is still here through the lives of His people! He continues working toward the salvation of souls by the presence of His christians through their acts of faith and love and through the divine influence of the working of His Grace and Word in the hearts of those attracted to His Truths.
So I cannot say with any kind of certainty what would have happened to me if I had not met this christian young lady many years ago. But I can indeed praise the Lord for His being there on that day through her. It literally changed my life forever!
If you are a servant of the Lord, He is there where you are. In this same manner, you also can have such an effect upon others you meet whether at your work place, or where you shop or recreate, or through the many contacts among your family and acquaintances.
Let us continue to live our lives as He wills with confidence knowing He is indeed there wanting to influence others through the godly effect of our lives. With this in mind let us strive to live our lives in a godly manner knowing we represent the Lord. Let us allow ourselves to be His tool to further His kingdom and salvation for all we come in contact with.
“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12).
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:16-17).