“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NIV
“You could be someone’s only hope of Heaven.”
My thoughts today are about “truth is for telling.”
The Bible describes a person without Christ as “dead in trespasses and sins.” Ephesians 2:1 NIV. Obviously, that is not describing a person physically for they are breathing and walking and living as anyone else. What the Bible is describing is something much deeper in every man and woman, their eternal soul. Everything else is temporal, earthly, eventually subject to decay and destruction. The soul is eternal, but can only be said to be alive when in vital relationship with Christ. That’s what the Bible describes as having “passed from death unto life.” 1 John 3:14 NIV.
You were created for life, life in its fullness, but that life was and is inseparable from the God who gave you life and offers you eternal life. There is nothing good about death, yet physical death is nothing compared to the even worse spiritual death of a soul without knowing Christ. In recent months there has been a great deal of coverage about the often-deadly H1N1 flu virus. What if the lifesaving vaccine was hoarded safely stored but out of reach of so many who needed it – readily available to a few, but withheld from those who needed it most? What about that would be fair or compassionate? Could your personal discomfort at making that lifesaver available to others be acceptable? Would busyness with your own wellbeing and personal affairs be an excuse?
Can you imagine knowing a truth that would change another person’s life – a truth, verified in your personal experience, that had the power to save another’s life as it had saved your own? What kind of a person would you be if you kept that truth to yourself without sharing it with someone who needs it as you once did? Truth is for telling!
If no one had cared enough to share the good news of Jesus’ life and death with you, you would die with your sins unforgiven. When you have found life in Christ, you have been given such a truth – a powerful, transforming truth that saved your life and changed your eternal destiny forever, and has the power to do the same for others. See 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV. People you know are dying a little bit every day, continually inching toward eternity, very unprepared and frequently not knowing they have an alternative. They face an unending separation from God and everything good, and either do not know that, or have no idea what they could do to make their reality different.
You could be someone’s only hope of Heaven. What an awesome privilege! What a sobering responsibility. The Gospel is simply one person sharing with others the good news of a Savior and abundant salvation available to “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved . . how can they believe on the One of whom they have not heard?” Romans 10:13-14 NIV. Read that slowly and think it over carefully.
“This is not right. This is wonderful news and we are not sharing it with anyone . . let us go and tell the people.” Read 2 Kings 7:3-16 NKJV. Especially note vs. 8-10 NLT. Those four lepers whose lives were spared were kinder and more selflessly compassionate that too many Christians. They could not enjoy their good fortune without sharing it with others dying without it. Can you?
My prayer for you today is to know the Good News clearly and share it generously.