“Thus says the LORD of hosts:
In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying,
‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
Zechariah 8:23
Something about this statement really strikes me. It pulls at my heart, stirring this desire for people to be drawn to us because they recognize that God is with us—because they can find Him here.
It’s a reminder to me that the purpose of our good works—those things God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10)—is that the world will see them and praise our Father in heaven. The purpose is His praise. It is to point to Him, to make Him known, to make it clear that He is why we do this.
There is so much at stake here. If we stay silent, choosing to do good works but never bringing Christ into the conversation, people may hear of us and what we do—but they will not hear of Him. They will not connect it to the One who wants to bring them life, hope, and healing to their brokenness. The One who can take their sin and cast it away, covering them with grace and forgiveness. The One who can redeem their past and make their life shine with the greatness of His power and the glory of His grace.
He is the living God, and besides Him there is no savior, no salvation. “I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). If they miss Him, what hope do they have?
Isn’t this the point? Isn’t this what the love of Christ compels – commands – us to do? We are each an ambassador, representative, and witness of God. A witness to who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, purposed to reach a broken world and to do all we can to snatch out of the fire those He places in our path (Jude 1:24).
So we love. We serve. We make His name clearly known. Our God gets the recognition and the praise. And those who hear are given the opportunity to choose Him, to know Him, to experience His grace and power and abundant life within themselves.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all…that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised…In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 19-20
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17:3
“Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’”
Jeremiah 9:23-25
In Pleasant Places 