And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
My children often ask me how we learned about global events before the invention of the internet. The internet, combined with the proliferation of smartphones that serve as professional-grade video cameras, has certainly made the world feel smaller. Within seconds, we can see images from even the most remote places on earth. We can video chat with family and friends in different countries, and we have access to vast libraries of digitized books, streaming television shows, plays, and movies from any country, as well as major news outlets around the world.
How did we learn about global events before the internet? Someone had to be there to witness the event and then report on it. The more people talked about it, the faster and further the news spread.
It is amazing how far the message of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has spread throughout the world. The gospel has reached the far corners of the earth and is still going out to tribes and lands that have never heard it. This spread did not happen accidently or as the result of a chance, viral video. What began in a remote part of the world was proclaimed by the disciples—the earliest witnesses of Jesus—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and eventually to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Ready yourself to be God’s witness to the ends of the earth.
Mark A. Moore, PhD, is an associate professor of theology at William Jessup University and the spiritual formation pastor at Faith Legacy Church in Sacramento, CA.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
