Yesterday I was led to a particular Scripture that reminded me of a testimony I heard in High School. In the 70’s there was a strong movement in churches called Lay Renewal. After we had one at our home church, several of us from the youth group and parents who worked with the youth group (my parents were in that group), went to other area churches to work with the Lay Renewal weekends. On one of those weekends, a really sweet girl (I really wish I could remember her name) gave her testimony. She is a Christ follower and that was known to those in her school in Humble, TX. However, one day she said she wasn’t ready for a test, and she copied answers from a neighbor in class. She passed the test, but she hurt her testimony for Christ because others watched her cheat and saw no difference between non-Christians and Christians.

Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have repented of our sins, are ambassadors for Christ. “Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of His new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:1-6 NLT) We may be the only person that someone sees today that will lead them to Jesus. What will they see written on your heart?

Of course we realize that we aren’t perfect, but God’s grace and mercy have transformed us. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2 Cor. 3:17-18 NLT) We are to be the vessels here on earth to allow His light to shine through us, to attract others to His light.

I confess I don’t always do a very good job of being that vessel. But when I begin my day with the Lord in prayer and meditating on His Word, I am already looking to Him for guidance as I traverse whatever each day holds. When I allow Him to be my compass, to show me the steps as I trust in Him completely, His power (certainly not mine) allows me not to give in to sin, but to be set apart from the world. “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Rom. 6:12-14)