Tonight's Testimony

(Here are the notes for my testimony at tonight's ice cream social. For those of you who won't be able to make it because you're out of town, have a Y chromosome, whatever.)

What is a testimony? Most commonly, it is used when a person is called upon to give an account of what he witnessed. This, however, is a narrow usage.
In a broader application, Webster says that it means "firsthand authentication of a fact," which is what one is called upon to do in a court trial, to verify a fact. A trial lawyer may ask, "Did you know this person before such and such a date?" The witness then authenticates whether or not this fact is true. Testimony also means "evidence." The lawyer asks, "What did you see?" And then the witness presents his evidence.

Here’s what I have seen: I was lost. I was the wretch the song sings about. I was trouble with a capital T. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll were all I knew. They were my idols. I hated God; I was Saul. But here’s what I love about the Bible: God uses some of the most sinful, lost people to do his work. And He uses them to set examples for the rest of us. It’s not sugar-coated. There are no perfect people in the OT, and only one in the New. Nobody who understands what Christianity is really about expects perfection, but for God to use us in our imperfection. I had to hit rock bottom before the Lord would lift me up, meet me in my darkest hour, and bring me through to where I could see the light.

Friends, I have no doubt that though my sins were as crimson, through Christ I am now white as snow. But even in the snow, our thorns can show through.

Romans 7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

When we total the monetary value of the elements in our bodies and the value of the average person's skin, we arrive at a net worth of $4.50! Basing the skin's value on the selling price of cowhide, which is approximately $.25 per square foot, the value of an average person's skin is about $3.50.
The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils invested many a hard-earned tax dollar in calculating the chemical and mineral composition of the human body, which breaks down as follows:

65% Oxygen 18% Carbon
10% Hydrogen 3% Nitrogen
1.5% Calcium 1% Phosphorous
0.35% Potassium 0.25% Sulfur
0.15% Sodium 0.15% Chlorine
0.05% Magnesium 0.0004% Iron
0.00004% Iodine

Additionally, it was discovered that our bodies contain trace quantities of fluorine, silicon, manganese, zinc, copper, aluminum, and arsenic. Together, all of the above amounts to less than one dollar!
So what’s it all for? What is life really worth?

Revelation 12:11 (amplified) And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love {and} cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].

The key word, testimony, is the Greek word marturían, which means either "the act or office of testifying" or "what one testifies." In modern terms, it is either the giving of evidence, as before a judge in a courtroom, or the evidence itself. The word witness is similarly used, as, for instance, the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11 are called mártusín ("witnesses" or "martyrs"), a related word. Their "testimony," then, is evidence they give or a witness they provide.
We should not forget the final phrase, "which they held," as it adds definition and emphasis to their testimony. The evidence they give means something special to them! It is not as if they witnessed an auto accident and, as unbiased bystanders, simply testified about how it happened. Their testimony is something so precious that they hold it fast, bear it, maintain it, keep it in trust, possess it, consider it, believe it, and adhere to it.

We give testimony of our devotion to God and our beliefs in simple, everyday acts, many of which we probably never consider to be witnessing. We make a witness to other members of our families with our every word, act, and decision. We witness of our adherence to law in our public activities, from driving our cars to paying our taxes. Our diligence and thoroughness on the job testify of our godly character or lack thereof. One could go so far as to say that everything we say and do that is witnessed by others shouts out the testimony that we hold. Lord, I pray that not just my words, but my life will be a testimony to your saving grace. Amen.