Deuteronomy 6:6-9 & 20-25- "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates." ..."And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, 'What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God commanded you?' Then shalt thou say unto thy son, 'We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.' "....

These portions of scripture have fascinated me since the day I first read them, because they show us the importance of passing God's Word on, from parents to children, and from generation to generation. Even with the Israelites, among whom God showed His power mightily, there was the constant danger of forgetting the Lord, and for believing that they themselves were somehow responsible for their deliverance from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, and for the subsequent blessings that they enjoyed. God commanded them to tell their children, and in time the children were to tell THEIR children, and so on...

It was so important that God's people ALWAYS remember their Lord, and that HE was the One responsible for all of their blessings, all of the time. Well, in the fullness of time, the prophesied Messiah came into the world to save us all from our sins. The focus was no longer only Israel, but now "...ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8b)". God has from the beginning chosen to use the apex of His creation, human beings, to tell other human beings about Himself, and from the moment that sin entered into the world, the message has been REDEMPTION. First the law and its sacrifices, then the CROSS- God's own sacrifice, and one that He had determined from before the beginning of man's existence to make.Thank God that He loved us enough to reach down to us!

So, mankind is eternally lost and God has chosen to send us to bring the lost back to Him. It is GOD's power, and OUR obedience. The CROSS and RESURRECTION are God's means of salvation for lost mankind, and WE, His redeemed, are God's instruments and vessels through which He has chosen to make His redemptive message known to the entire world.

Now, how effective is God's use of frail human beings to spread His Word? I like the way Isaiah says it (Isaiah 55:10&11) "...as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Beautiful, isn't it?

Once again, it is God's power. We're just the vessels- but what an incredible blessing and responsibility it is to be that yielded vessel! It is incumbent upon all who name the name of Christ to present Him before the world. That will be done as we spend much time in His Presence and learn to yield our will up to His. We may witness to others in either an overt or covert manner (as the Spirit of God leads), but we must let the world know that He lives, that He loves them, and that only HE will truly satisfy their lonely souls!

If WE don't tell them, they'll never know. Every believer is to tell others about Christ, His blood, His resurrection, His love- and as we share the crucified and risen Savior, God will bless us. He will back us up with His own Presence and Power, and more and more, as time goes by, the world will know- BY US- of His marvelous love!

God bless you-
Jim Ewing