Post by Cindy on Jul 8, 2015 10:05:57 GMT -5
As I had my coffee with the Lord today, I found myself asking, "What are we so afraid of that we will allow those we love so much to die without knowing for sure if they're saved?" I know so many people who are married to unbelievers or who have family or close friends that are unbelievers, and they've told me that they don't think these people are saved. Some of them are up there in years and some have been ill for some time even. Yet still, they don't press the issue of their salvation with them. Instead they just hope and maybe pray about it. I did the same thing with my mother, and now she's most likely in Hell because of it. True, I was only a child at the time, but that's no excuse. I'd told my mother about God and the gospel, many times over the years of my childhood, at least as much as I understood it, but when she lay dying, I didn't press the issue, so I've always had to live with that. I'd sure hate to have anyone else have to live with that on their conscience.
Thinking about this, I wonder if it's due to fear of alienating the person, or if it's because we don't really believe they're going to go to Hell; or maybe we just don't understand what Hell is really going to be like for them. If we did, wouldn't we do anything within our power to get them to understand and be saved? Wouldn't our prayers for them be constant and every moment be thinking about yet another way we could present the truth to them? Wouldn't we be constantly talking to them about it and showing them the consequences of their actions? Wouldn't we have our noses in the Bible to learn more so we could tell them more, explain it better, etc?
Or could it be that we don't really love them as much as we think we do? A parent who really loves their child is not going to simply allow that child to grab a hot stove without doing all in their power to teach them that it will burn them and hurt them badly and so prevent it. So then, why would we turn around and allow that same child to be on a path leading straight to Hell without also doing all within our power to teach them that it will burn them and hurt them and so prevent it? The same is true for anyone we love, whether the person is family or close friend. I think just about every parent has heard their child mutter, "I hate you" at some point, when they didn't get what they wanted; and yeah, it hurt, but we also knew they didn't really mean it. We knew they really loved us but were simply disappointed that their desire was being thwarted. Do we really think that our loved one's love for us is so shallow that they'd stay away from us if we persisted in telling them about our Lord? Even if they did leave us, wouldn't it better to have that happen, knowing you'd done all you could because you loved them, and trust the Lord to make things right in the long run?
Maybe that's the real issue then... maybe we don't trust the Lord with our lives. Maybe we think that if we do what we're supposed to be doing and be persistent in telling them about Him and His Gospel and praying for their salvation, that it will ruin our lives. We don't really believe that the Lord will work all things for our good, or that He will reward us for our faithfulness. Maybe we think that we'd rather have an unbelievers worldly love in our life, then God's love and faithfulness to fulfill all His promises to us. Perhaps we're like the toddler who wants that cookie now, instead of after dinner. We don't know if God will reward us now or wait till Heaven so we don't want to take the chance that we won't get our cookie when and how we want it.
This goes even deeper though, because the same things apply to family and friends who are living in sin or who've turned away from the Lord. Actually that's what got me started thinking along these lines. John says: “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” (1 John 5:16–17) This isn't telling us that we have to figure out what kind of sin a person is doing, but rather that we need to pray for those who are living in sin and haven't repented of it yet. We need to ask for their forgiveness and and ask the Lord to lead them to the Truth and turn them back to Him. We need to ask them to help us help that person and to give us opportunities to speak the truth in love to that person persistently, regardless of how it affects us and our relationship with them. Why? Because we know we're safe in God's arms, that we're going to heaven, and that we're living our life in such a way that pleases Him because we're obedient to Him. They don't have that assurance and they won't have it unless we do something about it.
Whenever we think of witnessing, we generally think about telling strangers about Jesus, but that's not what the Lord had in mind at all, although it can include that. God puts each of us in particular families, in a particular place, and has particular people that come into our life regularly through work, play, or community activities etc. Those people in our circle are the ones we first have the duty to tell the Gospel to and live it in front of them. They are the ones we're supposed to be witnessing to, not someone overseas. After we've done our job there, then if God leads us elsewhere or puts strangers in our path, we can witness to them as well. But our first and most important job are those in our immediate circle of family; then the next circle around that of extended family. Then neighbors, friends and coworkers, etc. That's what the Lord calls each of us to do. That makes a lot of sense too because witnessing to someone is not the end of the job, it's only the beginning of it. Jesus said we were to tell them about Him and the gospel and then teach them to obey all He has commanded us. We're to disciple them. We all know that first verse, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19) but we tend to ignore the one after it: “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:20)
There's so very little time left. I hope and pray that we'll all get our noses in God's Word and talk to Him and get His help in bringing all our loved ones to salvation, and teaching them about Him and His Word, before this Age of Grace is over. We can't do it on our own, but He can, and He is more then willing to teach us, guide us, and enable us to do His Will.
Thinking about this, I wonder if it's due to fear of alienating the person, or if it's because we don't really believe they're going to go to Hell; or maybe we just don't understand what Hell is really going to be like for them. If we did, wouldn't we do anything within our power to get them to understand and be saved? Wouldn't our prayers for them be constant and every moment be thinking about yet another way we could present the truth to them? Wouldn't we be constantly talking to them about it and showing them the consequences of their actions? Wouldn't we have our noses in the Bible to learn more so we could tell them more, explain it better, etc?
Or could it be that we don't really love them as much as we think we do? A parent who really loves their child is not going to simply allow that child to grab a hot stove without doing all in their power to teach them that it will burn them and hurt them badly and so prevent it. So then, why would we turn around and allow that same child to be on a path leading straight to Hell without also doing all within our power to teach them that it will burn them and hurt them and so prevent it? The same is true for anyone we love, whether the person is family or close friend. I think just about every parent has heard their child mutter, "I hate you" at some point, when they didn't get what they wanted; and yeah, it hurt, but we also knew they didn't really mean it. We knew they really loved us but were simply disappointed that their desire was being thwarted. Do we really think that our loved one's love for us is so shallow that they'd stay away from us if we persisted in telling them about our Lord? Even if they did leave us, wouldn't it better to have that happen, knowing you'd done all you could because you loved them, and trust the Lord to make things right in the long run?
Maybe that's the real issue then... maybe we don't trust the Lord with our lives. Maybe we think that if we do what we're supposed to be doing and be persistent in telling them about Him and His Gospel and praying for their salvation, that it will ruin our lives. We don't really believe that the Lord will work all things for our good, or that He will reward us for our faithfulness. Maybe we think that we'd rather have an unbelievers worldly love in our life, then God's love and faithfulness to fulfill all His promises to us. Perhaps we're like the toddler who wants that cookie now, instead of after dinner. We don't know if God will reward us now or wait till Heaven so we don't want to take the chance that we won't get our cookie when and how we want it.
This goes even deeper though, because the same things apply to family and friends who are living in sin or who've turned away from the Lord. Actually that's what got me started thinking along these lines. John says: “If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” (1 John 5:16–17) This isn't telling us that we have to figure out what kind of sin a person is doing, but rather that we need to pray for those who are living in sin and haven't repented of it yet. We need to ask for their forgiveness and and ask the Lord to lead them to the Truth and turn them back to Him. We need to ask them to help us help that person and to give us opportunities to speak the truth in love to that person persistently, regardless of how it affects us and our relationship with them. Why? Because we know we're safe in God's arms, that we're going to heaven, and that we're living our life in such a way that pleases Him because we're obedient to Him. They don't have that assurance and they won't have it unless we do something about it.
Whenever we think of witnessing, we generally think about telling strangers about Jesus, but that's not what the Lord had in mind at all, although it can include that. God puts each of us in particular families, in a particular place, and has particular people that come into our life regularly through work, play, or community activities etc. Those people in our circle are the ones we first have the duty to tell the Gospel to and live it in front of them. They are the ones we're supposed to be witnessing to, not someone overseas. After we've done our job there, then if God leads us elsewhere or puts strangers in our path, we can witness to them as well. But our first and most important job are those in our immediate circle of family; then the next circle around that of extended family. Then neighbors, friends and coworkers, etc. That's what the Lord calls each of us to do. That makes a lot of sense too because witnessing to someone is not the end of the job, it's only the beginning of it. Jesus said we were to tell them about Him and the gospel and then teach them to obey all He has commanded us. We're to disciple them. We all know that first verse, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19) but we tend to ignore the one after it: “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:20)
There's so very little time left. I hope and pray that we'll all get our noses in God's Word and talk to Him and get His help in bringing all our loved ones to salvation, and teaching them about Him and His Word, before this Age of Grace is over. We can't do it on our own, but He can, and He is more then willing to teach us, guide us, and enable us to do His Will.
!!
