Eyewitness

Have you ever witnessed something outlandish? Have you witnessed an event that was amazing? Have you witnessed something that you wouldn’t believe if you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes? Have you tried to convince someone else that you actually saw it?

We all have seen something during our lifetimes that stunned us. We have seen someone do something amazing, perhaps unbelievable. We have likely told a friend or relative about it and heard their protestations that it couldn’t be true.

Now, imagine you are one of the disciples who traveled with Jesus for three years. Imagine trying to tell someone about the miraculous things He did. How do you convince someone that Jesus walked on water, raised both a man and a little girl from the dead, gave blind men their sight, healed the lame so they could walk, or cured leprosy? How do you convince them that He was crucified on a cross, buried, rose on the third day, walked the earth for forty days, and was lifted to the heavens on clouds?

This was the task of the Apostles. They were witnesses to the most amazing happenings this earth has ever experienced. Their task was bigger than any task we might face. Yet, because they were witnesses, they believe and would not stop attempting to convince people who Jesus is. Is it any wonder that many of them were martyrs?

In our modern times, many don’t want to believe the Bible. In fact, there are many Christians who are not fully convinced that Jesus is who He said He is. Otherwise, they would give Him the same devotion the Apostles did following His resurrection. We have never seen such amazing things happen and can’t fully wrap our minds around them. We want proof. We want to see it happen for ourselves.

We are called to not only believe, but to testify as witnesses ourselves. True, we may not have seen the events the Apostles did. But we can see Him working in our lives in the here and now. It is our personal experiences with God that convince people the eyewitness accounts by the Apostles are true. It is the personal stories we tell that plants the seed of faith in someone else.

I pray we all believe the eyewitness accounts of the Apostles. I pray we examine our lives to see how God has worked for us. I pray each one of us witnesses to others our experiences with God. Believe the eyewitness accounts. Recognize God working. Be a witness. Convince others Jesus is who He says He is.

Acts 10:39-41 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”