Day 1: What is your "why"?

God wants to make your ordinary life extraordinary by sharing Jesus with others and seeing their lives changed. Sharing Jesus gives you a significant purpose and an intentional focus on the eternal. But the question is, “How do I begin?” We begin by considering why we want to share Jesus with others.

I discovered why I wanted to share Jesus with others when I met a woman, Christy, who identified as a vampire. I had no clue how to relate to her or how to engage in a spiritual conversation, but God showed me how: I should invite the Holy Spirit to guide me in the conversation.

I asked her why she thought she was a vampire. She said that she tried to take her life three times and couldn’t seem to die. She thought she was immortal. She also sacrificed animals and drank their blood to remove her sins.

I felt like we had nothing in common, so I asked another question: “What brings you purpose in life?” (By the way, you can ask this question to learn people’s worldviews.) She said she’s brought over 30 women with no community into her coven of vampires.

I again prayed for God to show me how to bridge into the gospel with her. I said, “Christy, in a sense, you are right. We are eternal, blood is necessary, sacrifice is essential, and we were made for community, but I don’t think you know the whole story. May I share it with you?” She said, “Yes.” (It is always good to ask permission before you share about Jesus.)

I still had no plan for what to say next, so I asked God again for words. I started to share with her how Jesus claimed to be the lamb of God who takes away the world's sins. He was the final sacrifice so that we could spend eternity with Him and have intimate community now and forever with Him and others who follow Him.

Christy didn’t invite Jesus into her life after this conversation. Instead, she asked for a ride home. Though I wasn't too excited to do that at 2 am, I knew God wanted me to. On the drive, Christy started knocking on the window this eerie, steady knock. At that moment, I had a choice. I could either ignore her and just get her home or ask her why she was knocking on the window. I am so glad I asked. She answered, “Something is knocking at my heart, but I don’t know what it is.” It was Jesus! I told her that Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person.”

Christy then said, “Pull over on the side of the road. I want Jesus in my life now in case I die before I get home!” I was dumbfounded. She didn’t even think she could die two hours ago, and now she felt she needed to accept Christ! On the side of the highway, Christy invited Jesus into her life.

To become a person who shares Jesus with others, you must first know “why” you want to share Jesus with them. Many ideas might come to mind of what our “why” should entail. We don’t want people to go to hell and be separated from God for all eternity. We want our friends and family in heaven with us. We want them to be free from their sins. We want them to have hope in this life. These things are good, but they are not the ultimate reason we share Jesus with others. We share Jesus because we want them to know Him as intimately as we do. I wanted Christy to know the person of Jesus, not just find a solution for her sins. This was my “why.” It is not about sharing a message but sharing a person.

Reflect on these questions:

• Why do you want to share Jesus with others? What will motivate you to do so?
• What do you love or appreciate about Jesus? How can you casually share that with others?

Pray and ask God to give you a clear motivation to share Jesus with others. Meditate on who Jesus is and what attracted you to Him. Think about other attributes He has that might be attractive to others. Ask God to increase your heart for the lost.