John Eldredge said, “Deep in his heart, every man
longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to
rescue”
(Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul).
(Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul).
The same could basically be said for every woman as
well. Deep within every person is the desire to accomplish something with their
life; something that will make a difference in the lives of others. The Apostle
Paul said it like this: “The most important thing is that I complete my
mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me” (Acts 20:24 NCV). The
mission that God gave Paul was to share the hope that is found only in the Good
News of Jesus Christ. That is your mission as well.
God has placed you where you are at in this world so
that through you others might know about Jesus. And some people will never know
about Jesus and what He has done for them unless you tell them. Rick Warren
said, “Telling others how they can have eternal life is the greatest thing you
can do for them. If your neighbor had cancer or AIDS, and you knew the cure, it
would be criminal to withhold that lifesaving information. Even worse is to
keep secret the way to forgiveness, purpose, peace, and eternal life. We have the
greatest news in the world, and sharing it is the greatest kindness you can
show to anyone” (Purpose Driven Life, p. 283-284).
While there are 6 different evangelistic styles
listed in the Bible, sharing your faith with someone is as simple as telling them
what your life was like prior to becoming a Christian, how you came to the
conclusion that you wanted to become a Christ-follower, and what God has done
in your life since becoming a Christian. “It is easy to get distracted and sidetracked
from your life’s mission of sharing the hope that you have in Christ because
Satan would rather have you do anything besides sharing your faith. He will let
you do all kinds of good things as long as you don’t take anyone to heaven with
you. But the moment you become serious about your mission, expect the devil to
throw all kinds of diversions at you” (Purpose Driven Life, p. 286).
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The righteous (person) is the one who lives for the
next generation.”
If you had a family member who was in a burning
building and you knew that it was on fire but they denied it, would you not do
everything that you can to get them out including tackling them? You know that
they might even be upset with you at first or even hurt from the force which
you had to use to get them out. But these things would not matter in the end
because you saved their lives.
In fact after they realized just what danger they
were in and how you saved them even though they fought you, they would be forever
grateful for what you did. Sometimes this may even mean taking classes to be a
firefighter, or learning kung-fu to knock them down in order to get them out of
the burning building. Even if it took a lot of time and effort to accomplish
the goal of getting them out alive, wouldn’t it all be worth it? Of course it
would!
That is the exact picture many of us find ourselves
in with our family members, if we really love them then we must do whatever it
takes to open our family members’ eyes to the truth! And in so doing you will
be fulfilling one of your God-given purposes in life, and blessed with the joy
of knowing that your life has made an eternal difference just as someone did
for you.
In His service,
Matt
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