Get Up and Share Jesus
The time for sitting around is over. We need to get up and serve Jesus, and get up and seek Jesus, and lastly, friends, let's get up and share Jesus. Luke 24:9-11 says: "When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense."
The Joy of Sharing Good News
There is joy in sharing good things!
I discovered this again a while back when I was on a pastors' retreat. We gathered at a bush camp out near Groblersdal, and enjoyed such a lovely time in the wild.
Most of the pastors' wives were there too, but Shereen couldn't get off school so she wasn't there. Each night I would phone her and share how I'd enjoyed the day - we did this, we did that, I went there, I saw this...
Part of the joy of the weekend, for me, was sharing it with her - and yet even better would have been sharing it by her being there!
We only really fully enjoy something when we can share it. Enjoying something by yourself but telling nobody feels hollow.
We see this as these women rush back to tell the apostles - they couldn't wait to share the good news that Jesus was alive. Their joy was only complete when they shared it!
When last did you tell somebody that Jesus made a difference in your life? When last did you tell somebody about how Jesus is alive in you?
Your Story Could Change Someone's Life
The man who wrote the famous song He Lives was named Alfred Ackley. A Jewish friend of his asked him one day about Jesus. His friend said "Why should I worship a dead Jew?"
Ackley said "But Jesus lives! He lives! I tell you. He is not dead, but lives here and now. Jesus Christ is more alive today than ever before. I can prove it by my own experience, as well as by the testimony of countless thousands."
He had no problem saying "He lives! My experience of Him is real!" So he wrote "He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today... you ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart..."
Imagine if the women had kept the news to themselves. How many people would've been lost, thinking Jesus was just a dead Jew?
But they shared it and it changed lives.
Share this good news, friends! People might think you're talking nonsense. They thought these women were - until they discovered the truth for themselves. But without that seed the women had planted, who knows if they would have been in a place to receive Jesus!
Who might be changed, if they hear your story? If they see the change in you?
Who might find the change they are desperate for, if you will share instead of keeping this Jesus to yourself?
If you have been blessed by the risen Christ, don't sit around and keep it a secret.
Get up. Go into the world.
Let your life and your words tell the story of what He did for you.
The women couldn't keep the news of the resurrection to themselves, and neither should we. Think of one person today who needs to hear what Jesus has done in your life, and tell them.