Daily
Devotional

Last spring, I had the privilege to take part in an Easter presentation as one of the characters depicting the last week of Jesus’ life on earth. One of my grandsons, who is eight years old and very impressionable, came up to me during a rehearsal break and asked me, with a very confused look on his face, “Are you a good guy, Papa?” I explained to him that I was pretending to be one of the people who helped to arrange for Jesus to be crucified, so I was pretending to be a bad guy. He looked devastated, and I could not think of what to say as he walked away.  

After my grandson left, my mind went over and over how I would explain to him that I was not really doing something wrong to Jesus. I had always tried to teach my grandchildren to love Jesus, and I was worried that this situation would contradict those efforts. Later, however, his mother put my fears at ease when she told me that he had come to her and explained that Papa was a bad guy, but he was a “good bad guy.” I was very relieved to know that he had worked it out in his own mind—and to my benefit!

When thinking back on that incident, I realize the importance of how I walk in this world. Today’s focus verse tells us that our lives speak to others. With some, like our grandchildren, we see clearly the effect our lives have on them and we are extra careful to make sure it is a good one. With others, we may never know the influence we have. In those situations, it will take diligence to make sure we show them the character of Jesus. Our lives are “known and read of all men,” so we must be careful that our lives speak well of the Gospel to everyone we meet.

It is a wonderful privilege to be a living epistle for Christ. What is your life saying to the world around you? His Spirit will help us as we pray, give careful commitment to reading His Word, and apply what we learn to our lives. How exciting it is to realize, as we walk by His grace, that we speak for Him to the world!