"Say So"

"Say So"      

    

    Within an hour of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ and being born again on September 17, 1975, I felt a great compulsion to find my closest friends and tell them about the miracle that had happened in my heart.  None of them were themselves professing believers, but I felt sure they would be thrilled for me that the Lord had redeemed my eternal soul.  I tracked them down at a friend's house and told them the good news.

    Crickets.  The sound of silence.  A vacuum in which no sound was forthcoming.  This went on for a lingering and decidedly uncomfortable moment, until one of my buddies politely brought the quiet awkwardness to its end.  "That's great, Davis," he said, and then instantly changed the subject to more earthly matters of something else, of anything else.  

    I didn't socialize with those fellows for much longer.  Our paths diverged, my interests became focused on other things, and I desired to be the different person I knew I had become in Christ.  I did find other opportunities to talk to my friends individually, but none responded positively and joined me in relationship with the Lord Jesus.  I often felt sad about this, but the bridge had been crossed and I could not turn back, nor would they accompany me for the journey.

    I sometimes recall those days and wonder what would have happened had I not so soon confessed Christ to the company of friends with whom I had associated.  I have great confidence that I did the Lord's will, and that I had to follow His leading to communicate.  "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so" (Psalm 107:2).  I thank God for being willing to hear the crickets, endure the silence, and experience the vacuum.  Moreover, I know that true faith leads to confession, at whatever cost.  As the Lord Jesus plainly stated, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).  Certainly we seek the Lord's leading to speak of Him in a timely, wise, and appropriate manner.  But we will speak, and we will bear verbal witness to the spiritual reality that fills our hearts with abundance, and our lips with the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus.  As one given so many undeserved opportunities to "say so" in life and ministry, I give thanks for the joyous opportunity to speak the blessed Name, magnify the grace of God, and as the old hymn beautifully proclaims, "tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love."  It seems so long ago that it all started with halting words, unfulfilled expectations, and the sound of silence.  Thankfully, however, the opportunity will never end and eternity will not be long enough to be amazed by the grace of the Lord Jesus - and to say so.

"I will speak of the glorious honor of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness."

(Psalm 145:5-6)

"I will glorify Thy name forevermore."

(Psalm 86:2)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

(Ephesians 2:10)