Stop Licking Your Lips.

 

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Why the title ‘Stop Licking Your Lips’? Because you cannot speak while licking your lips. And the one thing a lot of Christians find difficult to do is to speak about their faith. Some are ashamed because their values are not the same as their secular friends, we do not want to place our secular friends in a difficult position and possibly lose them as friends as a result of our faith, others don’t want to deal with the derision and questions that follow a testimony of faith, and some are just shy.

I remember a television personality, some years ago, saying, “My faith is my business. Don’t ask me about it, it is a personal thing.” Faith is a personal thing but it is also a relationship thing. Recent years have seen preachers telling their congregations to live their faith because that is how the world will get to know Jesus. This is true to an extent, but sooner or later somebody is going to ask that one question we all dread, “Why do you believe in Jesus?” I have added some verses below for various reasons:

• Because speaking about your faith is the right thing to do.

• There is a blessing waiting for those who confess their faith in Jesus Christ.

• There is condemnation for those who do not confess their faith in Jesus Christ.

Matt.10:32  Then everyone who shall confess Me before men, I will confess him before My Father who is in Heaven. :33  But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in Heaven.

Luke.12:8  Also I say to you, Whoever shall confess Me before men, the Son of Man also shall confess him before the angels of God. :9  But he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 

Rom.10:9  Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. :10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation.

 

We are instructed to confess our faith in Jesus Christ, it is an absolute necessity. This is not debatable. Thayer defines 'confess' as ‘to declare openly, speak out freely’. As much as some of us avoid talking about Jesus, Scripture demands that we do not keep quiet. I know the feeling when pushed into a corner to do something we have been avoiding. The sudden flutter in the stomach, the throat drying up, coughing starts, and the tongue swells so big we can’t get a word out sideways. But worst of all, we fear that we will say something wrong. This is the first test of faith. Trust in the Lord and His Spirit. Do not concentrate on yourself, rather think about the person in front of you. He or she needs what you have. Without it, they could go to hell. Harsh words I know, but so true.

Then comes the inevitable question, “But what do I say?”. Jesus is a perfect example of how to approach any person or situation. He used everyday things to get the message of the Kingdom across. Money, sheep, lost property, a hedonistic lifestyle, a woman kneading dough, salt, a lamp, oil, sand and rock, anything that was at hand had a story He could use.

Image by Asoy ID from Pixabay

I remember years ago traveling to a preaching engagement in a distant town. Traveling with me was an old preacher friend. Our first stop was at a filling station. It was still in the days when an attendant came out to fill the car. The attendant greeted us, this was his first mistake. My friend watched the attendant for a while then asked, “How long have you been filling cars?”

“A long time,” came the answer.

“Do you like filling up cars?”

“Not really, but it’s work and necessary if people want to get anywhere.”

“I know of a man who needed filling up. But he had a boat, not a car. His name was Peter. His boat was empty but then an Attendant, a man like you, came along and filled his boat and showed him something much better than he had.” The conversation lasted an hour and we left the attendant wiping tears from his cheeks with a Bible in his hand. We crossed the road to a shop to buy some odds and ends for the journey. On the wall of the shop was a list of products with prices. My friend commented, “Wow, prices have gone up.”

The attendant nodded and said, “Yes sir. Everything’s expensive these days.”

“I know a place where the fruit is free and you can pick as much as you like. In fact, we’re on our way there now.”

“Really?”

“Yep. In fact, we’re all going in the same general direction, just taking different routes. Let me tell you about it.”

When we left, the shop attendant had a surprised look on her face. I don’t think she quite understood the enormity of what had just happened, but the seed had been sown.

We too, can use ordinary, everyday things and events to confess our faith. Living our faith is all very well, but we need to openly acknowledge it with our mouths. It is imperative that we do because, like the Preacher tells us, we are witnesses of Jesus Christ. If we keep quiet so will others. Go tell your story. People are waiting to hear you.