Let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:20
What is the true mission of your Christian life? Do you ever stop to think about why you are here and how you are fulfilling God’s purposes? This week I’ve been meditating on this quite a bit. I can justify my lack of evangelizing by saying it’s not my gift or calling. I can ask God to put lost souls in my path and when He doesn’t seem to do that, well, there’s an excuse.
But honestly, if we all seem to agree that time is short and there is a lost and dying world out there, how can we just complacently sit in front of our TVs, computers and smart phones and pretend it’s not happening.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:9-10
We are very good at justifying our behaviors and attitudes. In fact, we can get quite defensive if anyone confronts our lack of action. But, the Word tells us that our hearts are deceiftful and sick, and without the blood of Jesus covering that, we would be doomed. The people around us are hurting. People in pain are everywhere and many without any true knowledge of what Jesus can do for them. They have plenty of false ideas, wrong assumptions and resentments toward carnal Christians. But they don’t know what can happen in their lives when the Holy Spirit indwells them and heals their wounds. Why aren’t we more excited to go tell them? There are many reasons.
Last night I was preparing for bed when I heard an animal screaming in distress. I went out on my back deck and wished I hadn’t. Apparently a mountain lion was killing a deer right in my yard. I can’t tell you how horrible the sound was of the predator breathing hard and growling while the victim was fighting, crying in horrible screams as it finally gave up. I am still haunted by the sound. I could not see much in the darkness, just hearing every miserable sound.
Later as I tried to put it out of my mind and go to sleep, I felt the Lord impressing upon me that it is not unlike the human world. The enemy is preying upon those running freely, thinking they are independent and not needing help from above. And finally, in the end their screams of agony will pierce the heart of God as they go down. If I told you my experience last night, you might say to me, “that’s just the normal food chain. It’s life,” and go on with no emotion. But, if you had been there to hear it, you could not ignore it and go on nonchalantly. Maybe we need to hear the torment of souls who perish so that we can wake up….and care.
The passage I began with in James states that by bringing a soul back from death, we will have a multitude of sins covered. God’s grace and mercy abounds to those who care enough to reach out to a dying world. Let’s all ask Him today who and where we are needed, and then be obedient. The sound of the angels rejoicing in heaven when a soul comes to Christ is the sound I prefer to hear.