Bring a gift to the party

"Let all who are around him bring presents to him who ought to be feared." (Psalms 76:11b)

If you were invited to a party to honor God, and you had to bring a gift for the guest of honor, what do you think he'd most like for you to bring?

Probably most weekend blue-light specials won't get God too excited. He was already creating designer clothes for Adam and Eve as they left the garden, and he is the original, so there's nothing original outside him.

Jewelry? I know a diamond is forever, but so is God. Besides, he paves streets with gold, makes solid pearl entrance gates to his kingdom (Rev. 21:21), and doesn't need to wear a "What Would Jesus Do" bracelet.

Material stuff's immaterial to God. He can make anything he wants and speak new creations when he takes the notion.

You could give him your heart, but you've already done that if you're a Christian. You could give him your time and money, but that should already belong to him, too, if you're a Christian.

Let me recommend the perfect gift. When you come to the party, bring along a guest. God would absolutely love for you to crash his party with everybody you know -- and even don't know. He's a father who wants the biggest family he can have, and all of heaven rejoices when a person gets born into it (Luke 15:10).

Why don't I just let the preacher bring folks to heaven? Isn't that why I help pay his salary? According to my Bible (Psalms 71: 15, 17, 18, 24), God wants me to declare his salvation. Besides, Ephesians 4:11-12 says that God uses ministers "for the equipping of the saints for the work of his ministry." In other words, the shepherds are around to get us sheep ready for birthing time, but sheep birth sheep.

So how do you get guests to come along to God's party? It's done with three four-letter words: "nice," "tell," and "pray."

First, pick a prospect. If you're not ready to witness to a Hitler wannabe, or Stan, the frozen-hearted ice-cream man, go after Ida. You know, "Ida been a Christian, but Ida had to give up my sinnin' lifestyle."

Then be nice. Perform random acts of kindness that aren't random. Be loving, supporting and encouraging. Be supernaturally nice to Ida because you have the supernatural niceness of God inside of you.

Be phony? No, Christians aren't phony. They are supernaturally nice to everyone, and that includes Ida. So be nice to her because you're going to spend eternity with her.

Next, tell Ida about Jesus. Too many Christians just want to be nice without telling. That's not scriptural. Jesus kept saying, "As you go, preach" (Matthew 10:7) and "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). You can't reach if you don't preach. Jesus said for all of his followers to share the good news, and it's good news that we don't have to be wieners at Satan's eternal hot dog roast!

All the time you're being nice and telling Ida about Jesus, you pray for Ida. Sincerely pray that Ida's eyes will be opened to the truth of Jesus Christ. Pray that Ida will see her sinful lifestyle for what it is -- a deathstyle. No matter how lost Ida looks, keep believing she's going to spend eternity with you.

So be nice to Ida, tell her about Jesus' love, and bring her along with you to heaven. Once Ida's on her way to the party with you, start picking your next party guest.

June Seabaugh is a member of Christ Church of the Heartland.