Influence

Scripture:
Acts 27:31-32 — Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away.
 
Observation:
Paul is on a ship that has been trying to fight through the early winter storms and make it to safe port. It is likely that Paul and a couple of Paul’s companions are the only Christians onboard the ship. The situation has been desperate for a long time and the crew believes they will not survive. However, Paul announces that an angel of his God has appeared to him and told him that the ship will be destroyed but no one on the ship will die. In the middle of a dark night, as the situation worsens, some of the sailors plan to lower the lifeboat and escape. This is when Paul declares that all the men must remain on the ship to be saved. The sailors respond by cutting the ropes to the lifeboat. Paul is a prisoner, yet something about him and his walk with God makes a group of frantic unbelievers not only listen to him, but follow him. The crew puts their physical lives in the hands of Paul’s God, obviously believing that God has the power to keep His promises and that Paul has a living and active relationship with Him.
 
Application:
Do I have the kind of relationship with God in which unbelievers can actually see His power displayed in my life? Do I trust God so explicitly and walk with Him so closely that unbelievers are compelled to accept that God is real? When I think about a person at the great moment of salvation, it is the picture of coming to God in desperation, abandoning their own futile plans and putting faith in God whom they barely know. I certainly hope that their confidence is bolstered by having witnessed my walk. I want the kind of life testimony that influences others to follow my God, the real God, and to call on Him in the moment of their greatest need. I will trust God completely, cut the ropes to any other lifeboat, and call others to do the same. There is only one way to be saved, and those who are perishing must hear.
 
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for saving me. Thank you for the people you placed in my life and for using them to direct me toward you. Please use me to influence others and to point them to your saving grace. Help me to walk as a light in the darkness and to boldly tell others about the only way of salvation. May my life give irrefutable evidence of a living and active relationship with you, the one true God.
 
— Chuck Newton, missions mobilization pastor