The Best I have to Offer

When I was younger, my highly educated mother (in photo above on her trip to Monterrey 2 weeks ago) tried everything possible to encourage me to read.  The last thing I wanted to do was stay inside and I hated reading.  I was always outside playing a sport of some kind.  My mom even went so far as to pay me $20 cash per book that I'd read.  (but see mom, i turned out okay right?  I graduated from college!)

Today though, I love to read.  When I gave my life to the Lord, I think God gave me a passion for his Word (the Bible) and for theology in general.  At times,  I think I read too much.  My mom now borrows my books! I think that a life spent walking with God is far better than the alternative and so naturally, I want others to know this life as well.  For the longest time, I've thought that in order to help others come to a relationship with God in their own time that I should read up on everything I can get my hands on because it might come in handy one day in a critical conversation (this could be partially true).   I've thought that my pursuit of knowledge may further my own relationship with God and that this knowledge will be perhaps just what others might need to know in order to decide that God isn't a joke.  But my thoughts are changing these days....

In the past year for example, I'm convinced that the most impacting and meaningful conversations I've had regarding the things of God have been times when all I did was share who God is to me and what he's done in my own life.  

You don't need a seminary degree or a theological personal library to lead someone to a deeper walk.  The best thing I could ever tell someone is what God has done and is continuing to do in my own life.  So whoever you are, whatever your profession is, whoever you are trying to encourage to explore the things of God or to take that next step  -- the best thing you could offer is your testimony (not your personal history - that's your past) -- who God is to you personally.  

Who is God to you?