Today's Devotional
November 12, 2008
Subject: Once Upon A Time
Acts 7:2 - “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken;..."
What gives people pause to listen to what you have to say? Is it your great oratorical skills or perhaps maybe your great knowledge and wisdom of a particular subject. It might even be your physical attraction that draws people to hear what you have to say. I think they could all be factors, but the one thing that I've seen that really makes an audience perk up, is a personal story.
With yesterday being Veteran's Day and the day before being the Marine Corps Birthday, I've been talking to my cadets/students about what it has meant to me to be a U.S. Marine. To them it was probably, "blah, blah, blah, blah.." and then suddenly I transitioned into a story about an attack on our building one day while in Baghdad and they were captivated. Even my most unruly class was stricken with a calm and quiet I had never seen as they listened intently to see how it turned out.
This is a good lesson for us as believers as we go about proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ. We can hit the world with all kinds of theological doctrine and reasons to believe in our Christ, but in the end, they want to hear about an experience, a story that makes it real. That's what Stephen did.
Stephen got the men to listen to his rather long story because they were captivated. Of course they rejected his truth after listening, but as you read Chapter 7 of Acts, it seems they let him go on for quite a while.
Believers, we all have a story. We need to tell it and while the story may seem to be rejected by those who hear it, if it tells the tale of the wondrous works of Jesus Christ, it will always do exactly what it was meant to do. Ask Paul about it. He was there when they stoned Stephen.
Today, tell a story and make a difference in this world and the one to come.
Carlen
