By Michael L. Alumbaugh © 2023
“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
~ 1 Peter 3:15
A few years ago I'd gotten out of the habit of my daily Bible reading and it started to show. I notice a straying of my life values, habits and actions from what I'd always considered to be a Christian walk. [My wife probably noticed as well as a lot of others.]
So one day I manned up and got back into the habit. I began reading books from the New Testament, a chapter a day, but would occasionally alternate between the Old and New Testament. In time I began to sense a returning hunger for the Word which gave way to peace and contentment. I’d also noticed a change in my behavior. The things that used to distract me and cause me wander off coarse had lost their edge. But something was still out of place.
Then one morning I felt prompted to begin reading 1 Peter. I'd been there before but it had been a while. And this time, unknown to me, God had put a target on my shirt.
I made it through day 1, chapter 1 without any concerns, but on day 2, chapter 2:15-16, my spiritual barometer began dinging! The Holy Spirit asked me if I was using my spiritual liberty or “freedom as a cloak for evil." Throughout that day’s activities, the Lord brought things to mind that I needed to deal with. I thought on my ways, confessed any false cover-ups and made peace with the Lord. It was refreshing to feel clean and free. But He wasn’t finished with me yet! [And probably never will be.]
On Day 3, Chapter 3, verse 15 jumped out at me in the form of a question from within. The passage basically says we’re to set Christ in our hearts and actions in such a way that people see Him in our lives and ask about the Hope that is within us. They should be asking us or someone else "What makes you [them] different?" (It's in the context of followers of Christ coming under persecution or resistance.) The Holy Spirit then asked me, "Mike, is anyone asking?"
Conviction hit me like a brick! It seemed the He was asking, “Is anyone seeing Christ in your daily actions, words or deeds?” I asked myself, “How is my thought life infecting my outer walk. How is my daily diet effecting what others see in me?”
Again, I thought back to various incidents socially, at work and at church. At first the answer was a vague ‘No! They’re not seeing Christ in me” I asked myself, “Am I living it just to be “seen of men”? or “Is there a natural outpouring of the grace and mercy of God flowing freely out of me or is it all show?” “Is He what defines me?” I had serious doubts that it was. Again I sought forgiveness, repented of the things shown to me and pressed “toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”(Phil 3:13-14)
Over the next year or so, the Lord brought various memories from my past that allowed me to finally acknowledge that “Yes!” people had been asking and are still asking. Then, recently, He confirmed it in a rather peculiar way.
It was late November 2022. The sun was setting on a cold Sunday evening when I heard a knock at the front door. I was all bundled up in my cozy recliner. I’d been struggling with a cold so I hesitated to answer.
Looking through the window I saw a bearded, muscular, middle-aged man in a T-shirt and jeans. It was our new neighbor, Jay. They’d just moved in a few doors down from us about a year ago. We’d had a couple short encounters, one of which involved his borrowing a shovel. I assumed he was coming by to borrow something again. But I was wrong.
There was something different in his demeanor. I opened the inside door, cracked open the storm door and, with a gravelly voice, greeted him. “Hey, there! What a nice surprise! What’s up?”
He politely replied, “Hello sir. Can we talk? I need your help?” I opened the door further and asking him in, but he refused. I stepped outside.
There was a chill in the air but his spirit erased that feeling. In just a few short sentences, he laid out serious issues he was struggling with; a marriage potentially going on the rocks, finances and job stresses. Then, to my surprise, he said, “You’re the only one I could think of who can help me.” He paused and then asked, “Can you tell me how to come to faith in Christ?”
I’d never had anything like this happen to me before! I prayerfully paused, silently asking God for His words and wisdom, then led Jay through questions regarding his lost condition and a prayer to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. He was honest, specific and sincere, admitting his sinful condition and prayed for salvation. Then and there he was born again and it showed!
We are now having weekly Bible studies to help him grow in his faith and walk with Jesus. His marriage is healing as they take out time for daily Bible study and prayer together. He has an intense hunger for the Word of God along with an inner peace and joy he’d never had before. Family, friends and coworkers have noticed a change and have said so. And it has been a tremendous encouragement to me to know that God is using me to reflect Him before others!
Yet 1 Peter 3:15 still challenges me as it should all of us; “Is anyone asking?” If not, we’re not living it!
Dig a Little Deeper: 1 Peter 2:15-16: Col 4:6: 2 Tim 2:24-25, 4:1-3: Matt 5:13-16Published in the May 2023 issue of Black River Times
