Number one. Be prepared to share your hope with others. The book of
I Peter 3 verse 15 put it like this, In your heart set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope. If you reflect these benefits of being a believer, people are going to ask you why are you that way? Why do you have joy? Why do you have confidence even though it is tough for you now, even if you have just lost a loved one or broken up with your boyfriend? Why do you have this peace in the midst of your tears? How do you do it? The world will give you a window to share what you believe. Have you ever shared sparks of Jesus Christ with others? Sadly, the world is more prepared to receive this message than many of us are to give it. Are you reflecting confidence and hope in every area of your life? People are watching. They are checking you out.
The second homework assignment is to take this scripture card home and put it in a very prominent place in your house, on the bathroom mirror, in your Holy Bible, on the bedside table. And if you are like me you sometimes feel down and even whine and complain. Hey, we need to kind of wake up and put some High Karate on our faces and say, Wait a minute. That was a blast from the past, was not it, High Karate? We can splash our face and say look who I am in Christ. Look who I am. Go through these benefits and memorize them and understand who you are in Christ. People will be able to see that reflected in your life.
It will be a little like our aquarium at home, says
Pastor Ed Young. We have an aquarium with a couple of fish in it and a little fresh water shrimp named Jason. We throw fish food into the aquarium and the minnows are quick to eat it. Now the little fresh water shrimp named Jason is kind of slow. He does not have fins and he kind of kicks himself along the bottom. He waits for the food, red food, yellow food and green food to drift down. When it gets down on his level, the shrimp will grab it with his long shrimp like fingers and eat it. And here is something that I could not believe when I first saw it. The shrimp is translucent. If he eats red food, he turns red. You can see it go through his stomach and everything.
