Daily Devotion - Acts 1:8 - We Are His Witnesses

The entire courtroom was silent as the defense attorney questioned the man on the stand.

"I'll ask you again, Mr. Smith. Did you see the accused - sitting over there - kill the victim?"

"No," Mr. Smith replied.

"Have you ever even seen the accused before today? Do you know anything about him?"

"No."

"Then how do you know he killed the victim?"

"He just looks guilty."

Mr. Smith was not a reliable witness. He didn't know anything about the case and could not be legally called upon to provide any first-hand evidence of the crime.

Sadly, many of us Christians feel the same way. We may find ourselves in conversations about Jesus and think we don't have much to add because we don't know enough about the Bible. Maybe the covenant of bread and wine still confuses us a little, or perhaps Leviticus or Revelation don't make any sense to us, and let's not even get into things like the Trinity.

The good news, though, is that we don't need to know scholarly things like Hebrew or Greek to be witnesses. We just need to have seen His work first-hand.

There is one Greek word that we should consider, however. It's the word translated as witness, martus (μάρτυς). This is where we get the word martyr, and although that may bring up images of crosses and stake-burning, the word is really just a legal term for someone trustworthy who saw something happen and told others, such as in a court of law.

"That's fine for the apostles who saw Jesus, but what about everybody else?"

Haven't we seen Jesus working in our own lives? Are we more like Christ than we were yesterday, last week, last year? Do we have a changed perspective on life and an unspeakable joy in our hearts?

If we truly believe in the One who gave up His life to restore us to fellowship with Him, are we not witnesses of His glory and majesty right where we're at? Isn't the evidence of a new life more difficult to refute than an ancient text? Even if they won't read Scripture, they will still see us.

This is what it means to be a witness.

Question to Consider:

In what areas of your life do you see evidence of Christ's work? Praise Him and thank Him for those now.

Prayer For Today:

Lord Jesus, I have never seen You face-to-face, but I am certain that You are who You say You are, because You have changed my heart and calmed my soul. I would be lost if it weren't for You and Your tender mercies. Help me today to be Your witness - not to argue with others about religion, but to appeal to them about a relationship. Amen.