Apples of Gold

Guys, I don’t know if it is really a fair stereotype that asking for directions is anathema to your gender, but somehow you have gained that status. Perhaps it comes from the determination not to be lost, or the refusal to accept that driving around one more time is not going to change the outcome.

Although needing driving directions is rarely serious, I have been in a few places that the need to find our way out promptly was of utmost importance! Finding yourself living in a condition of spiritual lostness is a dire situation.

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog-it’s here a little while and then it’s gone. James 4:13-14

No one is guaranteed tomorrow. If you feel like this has been demonstrated at an unusual rate lately, you are correct. The number of unexpected deaths, especially in the US, has risen at a rate that is referred to as alarming.

For those of us who follow Jesus and have our eternal destiny secured firmly in His grasp, this is but a mere passing concern as we know that our last breath here will be immediately followed by our first in Heaven. But what about the lost? Those who do not know Jesus are also at a greater risk, and this risk comes with eternal ramifications.

Sadly, our lives have become so busy and cluttered with our own temporary issues that most of us rarely give much consideration to the souls of those around us. In the anti-Christian culture of America, we are also discouraged from sharing our faith, both by statute and response.

So many around us are too stubborn to admit their condition, or convinced that they will be able to find their own way out of it. Many scientists have adopted the “anything but God” hypothesis as they approach theories and discussion. Scoffing at the mountain of evidence that verifies the Holy Bible and points directly to our Creator, these individuals often masquerade as confident carriers of truth, marching without visible hesitation toward eternal damnation.

We are not called to merely stand by and await their recompense, but rather to do all we can to intervene.

You must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. Jude 1:22-23

The cause of separation from God is not our concern. Stubborn refusal to follow God bears the same consequence as never being told about His love. Those who have wronged us are in just as desperate need of rescue as we were.

In a nation with a church on every corner, and an endless string of online services of every variety within our reach, it is difficult to comprehend the reality of so many around the globe that have never heard of Jesus or His sacrifice for them. People being born, living their entire life and dying at a ripe old age, never even hearing the name of Jesus is not unusual in many areas. This is not ok. The words of Oswald Smith ring true:

No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone who has not heard it once.

Or how about the words of Jesus:

Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16

I am blessed to know many missionaries giving their lives to try and bring hope to the lost. Japan is just one of many nations with an almost fully unreached population. Less than 2% of the Japanese people have given their lives to Jesus. My daughter, Chelsea, serving in Tsukuba, Japan; has introduced me to quite a few young men and women, spread out across the nation, who are working to change that statistic. I hear exciting stories from many of them. The churches are growing, a door seems to be open in a new way and these men and women are sharing Jesus with people for the first time and seeing them respond. Some are asking questions, some are dedicating their lives to God. I am confident that something supernatural is occurring there!

May God gives us eyes to see the lost as He does. May He give us hearts that feel the expansive weight of the condition of their souls. While we trudge through our routines, often focused on simply getting through another day, may their plight find accommodation in our hearts and minds.

Prayer is perhaps the most powerful and yet most under-used weapon that we possess in this battle for souls. Our prayers cross the room, the street, and even the ocean.

Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. ~ William Booth

Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter. ~ Charles Spurgeon