Speak!featured

I never thought I would use this painting in a devotional, but I guess God had a different idea. A few months ago, my dentist stepson asked me to paint something for the reception area in his office.  He wanted the painting to include teeth and smiles as well as communicate his Christian faith. Initially, I had absolutely zero ideas on how to create such a painting, but as usual, God provided!

I shouldn’t be surprised that shortly after I delivered the painting with multiple images of teeth and lips (both of which are essential to clear speech), Bible verses about using our mouths to tell, declare, speak, and even sing about our mighty God began to pop up in abundance.  Three of those passages are:

• “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs” (Matthew 10:27).
• “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
• “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).

Those are Jesus’ words in the Matthew 10 passage. Now, I would prefer to think of them as a nice suggestion, but in fact Jesus gave us a command. That command is not reserved just for the preachers, Sunday School teachers and missionaries. These words apply to all of us.

The good news is that God has all kinds of ways for us to fulfill this command. He has plans for each of us to speak about our faith, not just once or twice, but on a very regular basis!  God is very creative when it comes to opportunities to speak about him.  It doesn’t have to involve speaking to big audiences. It could be an email, a social media post, words of encouragement to a struggling friend, a phone call, or for me, writing a devotional. Psalm 107:2 makes it pretty simple: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.”

I often get caught up in life’s ordinary activities and find that I am not seeking opportunities to tell my story of how I have experienced God’s goodness.  I am not even close to the “cannot help speaking” that the apostle Paul describes in the verse from Acts 4.

Perhaps I need to pay closer attention to the words in the 1 Peter scripture. Peter tells us to always be prepared to speak about the source of our hope.  He prefaces that admonition with words, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.” Peter is telling us that to speak effectively, we must choose to let Jesus truly be our Lord which involves obeying his commands (like the one in Matthew 10).

Simple to say but hard to do. Fortunately, Jesus gave us a helper, his Holy Spirit, who stands ready to help us speak about all we have seen and heard on our journey with our beautiful Savior. By the way, he is available 24/7!

I titled this painting “Sacred Work” based on Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”  Speaking about what we have seen and heard is sacred (and difficult) work indeed! I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit Acts 4:20 will be an accurate description of you and me!

“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”