A day passed and I received another message via Twitter. He asked the following: “Why do you follow Jesus?”
“You love him even though you have never seen him; though not seeing him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself. And your further reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls”—1 Peter 1:8-9(TLB).
As a writer, I stay on top of the different ways to share my content. I’ve learned social media has become the new norm for most writers who want to gain an audience for their work. It isn’t my first choice because it can become time-consuming if I don’t step away from it sometimes.
When I was first encouraged to become more active via social media forums like Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter, I resisted. Soon, however, I discovered that as a Christian writer, it’s a wonderful way to spread the wonderful news about Jesus Christ.
Several weeks ago, I shared a post on Twitter. For those who are not social media savvy and have not given in to the desire to learn how to tweet in 140 characters (not words) or less, it works like this. On Twitter, you have followers, meaning others on the site following your updates or in Twitter lingo—tweets. Rather confusing until you start participating.
When I shared a post to promote my prayer journaling books, I made the following statement: “Did you know God wants to have a relationship with you?” I had several responses but the one grabbing my attention was a young man who asked, “How do you know God wants a relationship with me?”
Trying to answer the question in 140 characters or less, appeared daunting to me until I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to reply with, “Why wouldn’t your Creator want a relationship with you?” The young man, who identified himself as “Dark Poet,” said, “Is He my Creator? How do you know?”
Our conversation continued via 140 characters with each reply until I encouraged him to visit my blog where he would find my email address so we could continue communicating with more depth. He insisted we keep in touch through Twitter.
I finally quit replying when I discovered, by visiting Dark Poet’s page, that he is an atheist. In the past, my conversations with unbelievers have usually led to a dead end. Most want to argue. While I didn’t want to give up on this young man, I felt our communication mode was inadequate.
A day passed and I received another message via Twitter. He asked the following: “Why do you follow Jesus?”
Since I felt his question was sincere, I responded by saying, “Jesus died so I could have eternal life. Why wouldn’t I want to follow Jesus who loves me that much?”
I have prayed for Dark Poet and hope our brief exchange planted seeds. If I could have engaged him in a longer conversation, I would have added, “Because Jesus said, ‘I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.’”
Why do you follow Jesus?