Sharing Appreciation of God:
Christ’s Teaching on Testimony
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We begin a two-part series on appreciation with a discussion of Christ’s teaching on testimony, i.e., sharing appreciation of God. Our understanding is based on his interactions with people he healed: what he instructed them to do or how he received their reaction to the healing. We examine his interactions with a man he freed from demons and a woman he healed of long-term bleeding. We see that he directed both healing recipients to testify about what God had done for them. He gave a direct instruction to the man freed from demons. However, his instruction to the woman healed of long-term bleeding was indirect: he would not stop looking for her until she came forward and testified. We also recall an example on testimony based on Peter’s interactions with his faith family after God released him miraculously from Herod’s prison.
INSPIRE OTHERS TO SEEK GOD A testimony inspires others to seek God by sharing with them personal experience that illustrates appreciation for his mercy and power and effectiveness in granting prayers and fulfilling promises. In addition to inspiring others by testifying to one’s personal experience of God, giving testimony also is a way to show appreciation to other people that have shared a person’s concern, either through physical contributions or by helping channel the concern’s to God through prayer. It is important to let such people know that God has granted their prayers and inform them so they would direct subsequent prayers according to need.
In this bible study we examine interactions at the call-up of the first disciples of Jesus (based on the account in Luke 5:1–11) to understand God’s expectations and designs for human partnerships. The interactions illustrate that God expects people to work together, in collaboration, to accomplish objectives that he places in our path. For each assignment, he chooses a leader and provides opportunity for other potential participants to join the leader in an alliance to accomplish the task. The chosen leader is expected to recognize the assignment—an opportunity that God has placed in his/her path, start work as needed while leaving doors open for others to contribute. The other potential participants are expected to recognize the opportunity and make themselves available to contribute, by staying close enough to offer needed assistance but far enough to avoid getting in the way of accomplishing the objective. We learn through the interactions that God will reward all participants in a successful alliance. Leading or following, the size of your harvest will be determined by your capacity.
