Today I realized that there are people in my life, people that I care deeply about and have devoted a good deal of my life and time to that are not truly saved. Just the thought of it brings me to tears. It breaks my heart. What have I been doing in the time I have known and invested into these people? What have I done to help bring them to the understanding of our Lord and Savior and the ultimate sacrifice that he has made for them? Have my actions around and with these people pointed them towards God? Have my words pointed them upwards and encouraged them to turn to God? I am speechless.. I am wrecked.. People I truly love, people I have spent years of my life with may die and I may never see them again. People in my family, in my friend groups, people I work with, even people I pass everyday on the street.
Mark 16:15-16 says
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Condemned.. That is a deep and harsh word. For those who are believers, you know the weight that word holds. You know the harsh reality that comes along with that. For those of you that are not saved Revelation 20:10 says “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” That is something as humans, especially from a first world society, we have no way to fully understand.
This year I have been called to go out into all the world and spread the gospel. I have been called to go out and tell others the power that is in God our father, in the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ. As I sit here in Lima, Peru I can’t help but ask why… Why am I being called to go across the seas into these foreign lands and talk to the unsaved about Christ when it is something I couldn’t even do in my own backyard. Don’t get me wrong I feel like I was able to impact and reach some people throughout my time in the states but there is so much more work to be done in the lives of my friends and family who are unsaved. Why has God taken me on this incredible adventure and calling when there are people at home that I love who are unsaved? Why am I not still there helping minister to them?
I know God has a plan for everything and I know that I am not the one who will save them.. But at the same time I don’t want to loose them for all of eternity. As I try to wrap my head around the magnitude of having loved ones that are not saved I am also overcome with the immense blessing I was born into. The majority of my family has always been an amazing example of Christ to me and the way that we should live as followers of Jesus Christ. I have been so blessed to be raised in and shown this incredible life. Not everyone has been given that ability or blessing to know God in a way that I myself have. Again I ask God why.
I hope that these words can resonate with someone out there. I hope that someone out there will be touched by this and be encouraged to go tell that loved one about their Savior. I want this to help people have the courage to reach out to those who are at risk of living eternity in a place other than Heaven. I want to encourage all who are saved to reach out to those around you, ones you know well and even someone you may ride the bus with everyday, sit across from in the office, or stand behind in the line at the coffee shop each morning. Don’t let a moment pass by that you could be telling others about God. Their eternity is literally hanging in the balance. What do you have to lose? Nothing.. But yet they have EVERYTHING to lose.
