Is Your Sign Up?

Scriptures: I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (Philippians 1:20)

This morning, on my way to work, I saw a pickup with the following words painted over it: “Is your sign up?” The pickup was actually a moving advertisement for a security company. But this question got me to think about what a sign is and what it meant for me.

When I think of a sign, I think of the signs on freeways. I still remember, when I first came to Southern California, especially new the East LA Interchange area, I was always confused by those signs which did not tell you if they were going north or south. They simply said “Pasadena”, “San Pedro”, “Long Beach”, or “Santa Monica.”

As I was new to this area, these names, though familiar, were not registered on the map inside me. Yet, signs are signs. They served their function of pointing people to a place. Signs were never an end to themselves. They were set up to deliver a message, such as those set up on the beaches to warn people of polluted water, or to point people to some place or things.

In a very real way, I think we Christians are like signs, too. We do carry a message from God to people in this world about His love and salvation for them. Paul said to the disciples in Corinth, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.” (II Corinthians 3:3)

This letter Christ sent was intended to be a love letter and an invitation letter. It is first a love letter sprinkled with the fragrance of Christ through the good news of His life, death and resurrection. It is meant to satisfy the deepest longing for love in human life. How blissful it is that we are chosen to deliver such a loving and life-transforming message.

It is then an invitation letter for all to partake, to enjoy and to share this amazing grace of love from God through Christ. An invitation always comes with directions that point the invitees to the inviter. Just like a wedding invitation, whether for the ceremony or for the reception, there’s always time and place, and a map and direction that tells the guests how to get there. Likewise, our lives are meant to point the lost and searching souls to their Savior Jesus.

Signs also serve as an indication. I remember when my kid was still a toddler, one time he had a fever and we took him to the doctor. The doctor told us that the fever itself was not a sickness. It was, he said, a sign of infection somewhere in my son’s body. In a similar way, we, as signs, are indications that the good news of Jesus is true, that the grace of God is sufficient for all, and that God desires that all be saved.

But, for signs to function as they should, they should be up first. Signs stored away or laid on the ground do little good to help people. So, here is the question: Is your sign up? What’s the message on the sign?

Prayer Requests:
For children of God to know the role and the importance of being a sign for Christ

Prayer:
Father, thank You for our Lord Jesus through whom we may come to know You. As we have been blessed by all kinds of signs in life, spiritual and material, help us to be signs for Christ Jesus so others may come to know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him, our Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!