An icy wind cut into us this evening as we entered Friendly’s for ice cream. It was almost cold enough to make us go back to the car. Almost – not quite. Once inside we were rewarded by a precious four-year-old little girl with brown curls surrounding her pink cheeks. She hurriedly bounced up to her family and exclaimed, “Come and see. I found where they keep the ice cream.” Grabbing her daddy’s hand she led him to a glass covered refrigerator and said, “See. There’s even cake in there.” She was wonderful.
There are two similar events in John I. When Andrew saw Jesus he hurried to his brother Peter. “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah.’” The second event followed. “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.”
“Come and See” is the best kind of evangelism. Year after year we spend huge amounts of money paying for series of meetings and get limited results. Often it seems like efforts in futility. Why is it that we continue to repeat the same activity and continue to expect different results? However, there is another more effective kind of evangelism. Nothing works better than bringing a friend to share in the joy of what we have. When we love Jesus and when we radiate excitement and exhibit a quality of life we can say, “Come and see.” It certainly worked in John 1. Simon Peter became a disciple along with Nathaniel.
Written by Roger Bothwell on February 18, 2013
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org