How bold are you – how courageous? I suspect that we are a bit alike, you and I. Perhaps like me you are bolder at a distance than up close and personal? (Or your character might give you a ‘boldness’ advantage that I as an introvert don’t have)
When the word says ‘Honour Christ and let him be the Lord of your life’, we can do that wherever we are. We don’t need to be too close – we can honour Christ from a distance. Even 6 weeks past celebrating Jesus’ resurrection we can do that. But it’s the second part of this verse that takes us into ‘up close and personal’. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.
How willing are we to open our selves up and be vulnerable when we are asked about our faith? How ready are we to speak with boldness and courage about our faith? It might be with someone we have always known, or it might be someone we have never met. That’s how it was for Peter and the other disciples. Even though they faced a critical and even aggressive opposition to the Gospel – political and religious, they never-the-less continued to speak up and out. People’s lives were changed as they listened, and came to faith in the Lord.
We don’t know the situations or the people that the Lord will place in our pathway. We do know however, it doesn’t happen by accident. We do know that with the boldness and courage of the Holy Spirit, we can speak up and give the reason we have for our Christian hope. God will give us the courage needed for that moment.
God will bless that. He will speak through you and me as we give a reason for the hope we have. In Jesus. Try it next time someone asks a question about faith – your faith or mine.