And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. John 4:39
Many years ago, a young man was giving his testimony during the Sunday night Gospel meeting. He was the eldest of a large family, and one summer the Gospel came to his home community while he was away working in a town some distance away. He returned home to find everything changed. His parents, and most of his brothers and sisters were saved, and regular Gospel meetings were being held in the community. As he told his story, we were interested in the details, because he had been such an object of prayer. He was not saved during a Gospel meeting, nor during talks with a preacher. He told us that he was saved while listening to his mother tell him how my father was saved. Something about my father’s testimony helped him to understand God’s provision for his salvation. Just as something about the Samaritan woman’s testimony brought many in Sychar to Christ.
The last thing the good people in Sychar expected was the most immoral woman in town to tell of finding the Messiah. The surprise factor was probably huge in getting their attention. Something radical had happened to her, and they paid attention. Many Christians these days are raised in the Gospel and are saved at a early age. There is little opportunity for us to get into sinful lifestyles that are discarded when we are saved. But there are some who are saved our of deep sinful pits and undergo radical transformation. The personal testimony of people like Peter Orasuk are powerful voices that speak to those who know them. But every Christian has a testimony that is a Gospel message.
Maybe people around you don’t know what you were like before God saved you. But they know what you are like now. And your life should differ from that of the unregenerate sinners around you. There should be something of Christ that will mark you as a person with a story to tell and a Saviour to tell about. Even if we can’t all preach a message that includes our testimony, we can all live our testimony before our neighbours, and speak a word for our Lord when He gives us the opportunity.
What a thrill the Samaritan woman had to see so many come to know Christ because of her testimony! What thrill will you have at those who are saved because of your testimony? -Jim MacIntosh