WOULD THEY FIND JESUS?

I recently heard the question posed: "If someone followed you around for a day, would they find Jesus?"

This is the modern version of the old saying: "You are the only Bible some people will ever read." For many we encounter, we will be the sole representation of a loving God they ever see.

This calling echoes the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 (NAS):

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

When I think about how a child learns, I think of one powerful principle that can also hold true for discipleship as well: people learn more by observation than by instruction. When we live authentically, others encounter Jesus through the observable reality of our walk with Him. The Great Commission isn't always about preaching on a street corner (though some are called to this!). We can be disciples simply by consistently demonstrating the reality of walking with a loving, merciful, and powerful God. When I first reflected on the opening line, I thought, "Wow, what a huge thing to live up to." 

I worried I didn't have enough victory in my life to represent such an amazing God well. But then God started to speak to me, and His perspective shifted everything: The Bible isn't a gallery of flawless heroes. It features people living authentically with mess, struggle, making wrong choices, having small wins, and seeing God move in big ways. 

The crucial constant is that God is walking with them through every single story's ups and downs. Whether we are on the mountaintop or crawling through the valley, God is walking with us every step of the way, available for us to speak with and rely on.

So, maybe this is also what the Bible meant when it said, "Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them."

Perhaps this is the Jesus that people need to meet when they follow you around for the day: One who is with us regardless of how our life is traveling.

Maybe this is the God that we need to demonstrate in living our lives around believers and unbelievers, one who is ever-present, always available, and forever loving us no matter where we are at. So this is my encouragement to myself and to you: Live your life as a testimony to God’s ever-present availability. 

Let your daily walk, in all its authentic mess and triumph, be the answer to the opening question, if someone followed you around for a day, may they find a Saviour so loving that He meets us exactly where we are every single day.