Who wants to wait until it's too late?
As everyone has heard, beautiful young singer Aaliyah died recently in a plane crash. I chatted with friends online, expressing shock, sorry, etc. She was only 22. That’s four years older than me. It’s rather scary. In the midst of this tragedy, I was reminded of a conversation I had with that fashion king we all know and love, Henry. The conversation basically put death in a Christian perspective. Life is fragile and some will pass on at very young ages. We do not have forever to live. A person does not have forever to make the most important decision they can make. Thus, our mission as Christians must be expedited.
As has been alluded, the single most important thing a person can do before they die is accept Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord. As Christians we read that statement and agree absent-mindedly. But let’s rewind a bit. Did Aaliyah go to heaven? I don’t know. But it’s a rather interesting question (another interesting question is “why don’t we care as much about the 8 other people who died?”). There are billions of people in this world that can die at any time. We should not be willing to let them die without knowing God. The eternal consequences should be more than enough to motivate us. We do not have an infinite amount of time to share the gospel. All of our hearts should be set towards evangelism. I am all for taking time to grow closer with God. But there must come a time that we rise up and spread His joy.
We ask for the glory of God to rain down upon us. What is the goal? The glory we cry out for is when the entire world will bow down before the King of Kings. This cannot happen if we are not willing to tell people about Him. I admit that evangelism scares me too. I am timid and nervous. But school is beginning again and the opportunity is coming soon when I will be surrounded by people waiting to be saved. After salvation, there is still a purpose for our time on earth. Otherwise we’d ascend to heaven as Elijah did. The purpose of our existence on earth is to expand his kingdom into the hearts of the world. That is the only thing that I can come up with.
My goal is to help at least one person become saved every year. It’s a modest goal. I am not anointed. I can’t convert crowds at a time. But I pray that I will be able to take the time to help at least one person a year. We need to spend less time huddled together, hiding from the world. Strengthening the church from within is noteworthy. But we need to expand our horizons and include the rest of the world into our little bubble. The day that my friend, that my relatives, that my family die without salvation is one I never want to face. I pray that day will never come.
As has been alluded, the single most important thing a person can do before they die is accept Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord. As Christians we read that statement and agree absent-mindedly. But let’s rewind a bit. Did Aaliyah go to heaven? I don’t know. But it’s a rather interesting question (another interesting question is “why don’t we care as much about the 8 other people who died?”). There are billions of people in this world that can die at any time. We should not be willing to let them die without knowing God. The eternal consequences should be more than enough to motivate us. We do not have an infinite amount of time to share the gospel. All of our hearts should be set towards evangelism. I am all for taking time to grow closer with God. But there must come a time that we rise up and spread His joy.
We ask for the glory of God to rain down upon us. What is the goal? The glory we cry out for is when the entire world will bow down before the King of Kings. This cannot happen if we are not willing to tell people about Him. I admit that evangelism scares me too. I am timid and nervous. But school is beginning again and the opportunity is coming soon when I will be surrounded by people waiting to be saved. After salvation, there is still a purpose for our time on earth. Otherwise we’d ascend to heaven as Elijah did. The purpose of our existence on earth is to expand his kingdom into the hearts of the world. That is the only thing that I can come up with.
My goal is to help at least one person become saved every year. It’s a modest goal. I am not anointed. I can’t convert crowds at a time. But I pray that I will be able to take the time to help at least one person a year. We need to spend less time huddled together, hiding from the world. Strengthening the church from within is noteworthy. But we need to expand our horizons and include the rest of the world into our little bubble. The day that my friend, that my relatives, that my family die without salvation is one I never want to face. I pray that day will never come.