BEING PREPARED TO ANSWER

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be
prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect”
(1 Peter 3:15)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever thought about what the Lord expects from those
He has saved? Does He have any expectations of those who are
now called ‘believers’?

His Word tells us that we should ‘revere’ (regard as worthy of great
honor) Christ as Lord. That means that we should always give Jesus
His rightful place in our lives.

Where is His rightful place? It is allowing Him to have control of
our lives. It is when we ask Him to guide us in every facet of our
lives. We should give him control of our thoughts, our attitudes,
our emotions, our goals, our interests, our everything.

Does that mean we don’t make any decisions ourselves? No, it means
we have ‘decided’ to give the Lord control of our lives. We also have
‘made a choice’ to consult with Him on all our decisions, problems, etc.
It means we rely on the Lord and trust Him to provide what we need,
at the time when we need it.

Considering what He did for us on the cross and how He loved us
before we even knew Him, it makes sense that we should let the
One who loves us that much, become a major part of our lives. And
when we do, not only are we showing our appreciation for what He
has done for us, but we are also expressing a faith and trust that He
will give us the guidance we need for successful living. He died for us
(it was for our benefit, not His). How much more love could He express?

Since He is omniscient (all-knowing, all-wise, all-seeing), He is the
most qualified to advise us in all things that are important. When
the Lord is in control, we will gladly participate as members of His
ministry team, in whatever way He wants us to contribute and use
the spiritual gift He has given us.

Personally, each morning I look forward to what He wants has for
me to do with the devotionals He has given. Although Satan would
like to see me taking credit for them, I know the ‘real source’ of the
content of each devotional (and I get to read them before anyone else
does!). Some nights I think about the devotional for the next day,
however in the morning before my computer powers up, the Lord
will lead me to something else.

When we are serving Him, we need to know why we believe, what we
believe. This is another expectation He has of His followers – we need
to be prepared to answer anyone who asks us why we call ourselves
Christians. Our answers should be much more than just an intellectual
knowledge of the Bible, God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and His crucifixion
and resurrection.

If we are asked why we believe in God, we should consider it as our
opportunity to tell others how the Lord has been involved in our lives.
We are given a chance to tell them about some specific instance where
we have felt the Lord’s presence – it is a testimony of ours.

If someone asks why we have the hope we do, more than likely their
curiosity has been aroused about developing a relationship with the
Lord. We should never take their questions lightly and make some
casual remark like,
    “I follow the Lord because atheists don’t have enough holidays”.

It’s not a time for making jokes; it’s a time to realize that someone
needs to hear about surrendering their life to the Lord so that they
can spend an eternity with Him. As members of His ‘ministry team’,
we need to always be ready to give a sincere answer to anyone who
asks us why we have placed our hope in the Lord.

In the scripture above, the Lord tells us of His expectations, and how
we should be prepared to share with others why we believe in Him.
When we read His Word, we discover He has many other expectations
as well (including prayer, reading His Word, worshipping with other
believers, using our gifts and talents to serve Him, just to mention a few).

We are told that we should answer the questions from others with
gentleness and respect. These two very important attitudes should
be present whenever we respond to non-believers (or anyone else).
These are two of the identifying characteristics of the followers of
Jesus Christ.

‘Gentleness’ means we respond in a calm, caring manner and do
not try to be “preachy”. We shouldn’t start quoting a lot of the
scriptures, because they could have little meaning to lost people.
One of the best approaches we should consider is, sharing our own
personal experiences with the Lord. We should not make apologies
for our faith, or try to sound ‘spiritual’, but simply talk to them in
the same way we would answer a question from a close friend.

‘Respect’ means that we do not answer their questions in a condemning
or condescending fashion. When we are asked about our belief, others
are not interested in how great we think we are at being a Christian or
any negative opinions about those who do not know the Lord.

It is important for others to understand that we don’t consider ourselves
any better than they are, but God has saved us, and as a result, our lives
have been changed.
    Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already
    arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for
    which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters,
    I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But
    one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
    toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win
    the prize for which God has called me heavenward in
    Christ Jesus.
    (Philippians 3:12-14)

    Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
    Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
    not looking to your own interests but each of you
    to the interests of the others.
    (Philippians 2:3-4)

When God is in control of our lives, we are no longer influenced by
every fad or philosophy the world has to offer. Why? Because we
have discovered something much more valuable and it has helped
us to enjoy living the ‘good life’ we are told about in God’s Word.

ACTION:
If someone asked you,
    “Why do you believe what you believe?”
how would you respond?

Do you have a personal testimony you could share with them?
Sure you do, and you need to be prepared to share it. Can you
tell them why you enjoy reading God’s word? Would you be
able to tell them how He has changed your life, and how much
you enjoy communicating with Him every day?

Would you be able to tell them how He is using you in a special way?
Could you tell them the spiritual gift He gave you when He saved you
and how He has taught you to use it in serving Him?

Based on the way you answered their questions:
    Would they ask additional questions?
    Would they be interested in salvation for themselves?
    Would they think that your beliefs are shallow or insincere?
    Would they be convinced that your faith and trust in God is real?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for my salvation. Help me to be
prepared to share with others why I believe in You, why I read
Your Word, why I pray to You, and why I strive to obey your
commands. I pray that You would guide me in organizing my
thoughts so I can easily answer any questions from others about
why I have placed my hope in You. I pray that You would make
me aware of any areas in my own life that need changing so I
will have a testimony to share with others. Help me to become
more obedient to You and Your expectations, instead of allowing
my own selfish desires to be in control.”

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