The Sword & Shield: A 5-Day DevotionalSample

As followers of Jesus, the big picture for us is to join Him in reaching the circles of influence He has given us. If you are like most men, you can tend to downplay your abilities and impact on the people around you. But reaching out anywhere, on any level, is how we can change the world—one heart at a time, just as He did.

Often today, our self-survival tendencies in the chaotic busyness of life pull us away from people and into isolation. Such a response originates from Adam’s reaction to his sin in the garden after he and Eve had broken fellowship with God. They ran away and hid. For so many reasons, we can find it very easy to hide when life gets challenging or we know we need to take some sort of tough action we would prefer to avoid.

We can isolate ourselves in two ways. First, by our actual routine as we get into a rut of getting up, going to work, eating, sleeping, and then repeating the status quo. We may arrive at the place where we rarely venture outside the hamster wheel that we methodically created.

The second way we isolate ourselves is that even though we may be around a lot of people we stay on the surface, never delving very deep into spiritual and emotional issues with anyone. Sure, we’re with other humans, but we only talk about the weather, current events, and surface topics.

If you are a Christ follower, God intends for you to be His influence anywhere and everywhere you are, whether you naturally encounter five or five hundred people a day. And that influence can come by Him, from Him, and through Him.

We must accept that we are the best ambassadors for Him available to the people, places, and positions in the circles where God has placed us. That is exactly why He calls us to be His witnesses, right where we are. There may be people in your life who literally no one else will be able to reach out to but you.

Always remember—we are called to live out our mission, not live in a mission. We are ministers, not monks.

What is one area of your life you believe God wants to increase your influence for Him?