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Sabbath School: 9:45 – 10:45 am
Church Service: 11:00 am
Lead Pastor Simon Liversidge 805.498.2300
I found this verse to be full of direction, focus, and balance. I usually only hear the middle of the verse quoted, and too often it is done with at least a subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, “be ready to defend your beliefs at all cost—it’s a war out there—you have to defeat the enemy…always be prepared to give an answer….” As is typically the case, as least as I continue to discover in my journey with God’s word, out-of-context phrases often have rich truth imbedded in their context. This text is no exception!
If I should “Always be prepared to give an answer,” which I believe I SHOULD, then I better look around and see what the answer is that I am to have prepared.
- Before I can be prepared to “give an answer,” at least according to this text I must, “In my heart set apart Christ as Lord.” My life, my commitment, my focus, my decision MUST be first to decide that Christ IS in fact LORD of my life. I am His and that commitment is sure. Without it I can get all confused with things like winning debates and defeating the enemy. FIRST I have to “set apart Christ as my Lord.”
- With that I AM “prepared to give an answer.” My commitment and conviction give me clarity in my communication about Christ!
- Now here was the wakeup call - So I have Christ, and I’m prepared to give an answer - to whom? “To everyone who ASKS you.” Without Christ as my center, I can sometimes get over zealous about “sharing my 'truth'” with anyone and everyone. I have learned over the years that not everyone is always ready to hear what I have to say when I want to say it, and if I say it too soon or in the wrong setting I can sometimes do more damage than good. I have Christ, and I am ready—to give an answer TO THOSE WHO ASK!! Not necessarily to those I want to tell! My prayer is, “Lord, help me to be attentive and sensitive to those You bring into my life. Let me hear THEIR questions and respond to THEIR needs as THEY express it.”
- And what is the question that, when they ask, I am to be ready to answer - with my heart set fully on Christ? Be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you - “To give a reason for the HOPE that is in you.” Now I tread softly here- but the verse does not say to speak the "truth" when I want and to whom I want with the message that I think is important. It says that when someone asks me about the HOPE that I have I should be “ready to give an answer —“ “to the HOPE that is in me,” because I have “set apart Christ as Lord” of my life. Please don’t get me wrong - I’m not against knowing the “truth” and seeking a most accurate theological understanding of God’s word. But this verse does not call me to give that kind of an answer. I’m not trying to defeat anyone with my truth, I’m trying to tell them, WHEN THEY ASK, about my HOPE—that I have because I have “set apart Christ as Lord” of my life.
- AND I am to do this “with
- Gentleness
- and respect,
- keeping a clear conscience.”
With gentleness and respect, and with a clear conscience, because I speak only what is sincerely in my heart, I set my heart on Jesus, and watch for opportunities that He brings into my life to respond to the question that a seeker brings to me about my hope- the hope I have in Jesus. THAT is what I am to be prepared to answer. And Paul challenges me today to “be ready” to give that answer! I’ve also discovered that this answer is really quite easy to give IF I have first “set apart Christ as Lord” of my life.
Have a great day being ready to give YOUR answer,
Pastor Rich
Quote for the day: "To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust him in the dark - that is faith." - C.H. Spurgeon p