The other day I was reading the book of Acts. I love the book of Acts because it’s the story of the early Church. It’s the story of the first Christians. In chapter 5, Luke tells us that “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their numbers.” If you read the entire book, you’ll see that men and women were not coming to Jesus Christ because it was the “easy life.” It wasn’t easy. There was persecution and harassment. Regardless of this, there were more and more men and women putting their faith in Jesus Christ.

As Jesus’ followers today, are we living lives that bring more and more people into the kingdom of God? Our lives don’t have to be perfect in order for people to see Jesus in us. The lives of the men and women in Acts certainly were not. But, we do need to show the world a different way. There is hope in Jesus. There is peace in Jesus. Without Him there is despair and anxiety. When you’re going through a hard time, hold onto Jesus. It’s your response to difficult situations that will be a witness to others. We all have hard times; it’s how we walk through those seasons that matters. Just as the people in Acts lived lives that brought more into the Kingdom, let’s do the same today. Let’s be men and women who reach our world because our lives are different. Our lives have Christ.

This is Andrew Palau.