Cultivating a Desire for the Lost






Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." As we learn and grow we should desire to become more like Christ. Christ had a desire to see the lost get saved, and so should we.
I believe that, upon conversion the first and foremost desire of the new believer should be to delve into knowing his/her God and savior on a deeper and more personal level. The second desire of the new believer should be to begin having a desire to see the lost saved.
Likewise, an “older” believer should be doing the same things. Sadly, the fire that new believers get, to save the lost, dies away the longer they believe. This should not be so! The opposite should be the order of operation! The longer we believe the stronger and bigger, the desire should be within us. Now, it’s not wrong that the new believers have such a passion. The older believers may even still have the fire burning strongly inside them, but they’ve grown numb, apathetic, and tired of fueling it. Wake Up!!! It’s time to shake off the deadened, apathetic, weariness in our hearts and minds, and rekindle the fire contained by our selfish desire; let the desire burn purer, brighter and hotter than ever.
What is the hindrance in the body of Christ? Why is this desire to save the lost souls non-existent? Because the way of the world has weaved its way into our lives. We are so proud and self righteous in ourselves that we don’t care about those people that have no hope. We sit and complain about the music, or the temperature of the room. While we complain about these things there are thousands upon thousands of people going to HELL! How is this possible? Why are we so wrapped up in our comfort and luxury when people are dying without hope of any eternal luxury? We don’t realize that the luxury that we have is a result of the saving work of Jesus Christ, which saved us from the pain and torture to which we are unconcerned.
Hebrews 12:2 “…Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Our Lord, Savior, and Example endured pain, ridicule and the utter abandonment of the Father for our sake. This is torture that we cannot even imagine. We should be grateful for this. When you get a special gift, you want to tell people about it right? So salvation is a gift that’s been given to us that is so precious and sacred that will last forever; on top of that, salvation never diminishes, lessens or withers. Salvation is a gift so grand and glorious that we should be overjoyed to share it with others!
We have an eternal hope that, through Christ, has been made available to all who will take it. All people want eternal joy and life, but so very few know how to get it. Though, it’s not something to get, rather, it’s something that has to be received like a gift.
This idea was stated like this by C.S. Lewis “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else…It is the secret signature of each soul, the incommunicable and unappeasable want, the thing we desired before we met our wives, or made our friends or chose our work, and which we shall desire still on our deathbeds, when the mind no longer knows wife or friend or work…All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it.” If that eternal joy is what all wish for, whether conscious or sub-conscious, and we as Christians know how to attain that joy, why would we ever hide it from them?
The common fear of telling people the gospel is that they’ll mess up, or make a fool of themselves. Well, I for one would rather make myself a fool for the cross of Christ than to “keep it under my hat.”
This is the time, now is the time for the church of God to rise up and shake off the worldly, self-consumed obsessions, and go out to all nations as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”








If you want to contact me directly, the address I use for this blog is: givmejesus@gmail.com 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No More Wasted Time

I have recently been reading through the book of Acts. The common theme that I have observed in the first several chapters is the idea of the Holy Spirit coming upon the believers. I've noticed a pattern: 1. The Holy Spirit comes upon an individual or group. 2. The person/people speak with boldness and power through the Holy Spirit. 3. "The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47) I feel the Spirit reawakening a passion within my life and He's moving in our midst. Let us follow the pattern, where He fills us, then let the power and passion drive us to follow the command Jesus gave, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). I am broken that I, and so many others are living in silence and mediocrity. We were meant for more. We are meant to be Christ’s representatives in this world, “ 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and i...
Read more

ALL to Him I Owe: A Lookback on My Time at Summit Ministries

Summit Ministries is a Christian worldview conference, 12 days, 72 hours of World Class Lectures from a Christian point-of-view on many topics from the economy, to Islam, to same sex marriage to abortion. It's all packed into two very short, very exciting weeks.I heard about Summit from my older siblings who had gone before, and I had wanted to go for years. I knew a lot about what would happen and the structure of the conference, what I did not realize was the incredible impact it would have on my life. On the first night, Trent, my small group leader, asked what I hoped to get out of my time at Summit. I said that I was looking for a time of Spiritual refreshing and recharging since I had felt that my faith had grown somewhat stagnant; I had no idea how it would end up happening. Summit CO Session 6, 2014 - Highlight Film Ideas Have... : " The most dangerous ideas in a society are not the ones being argued, but the ones that are assumed. " - C.S. Lewis We...
Read more

Selflessness in a World of Singularity

      It is no secret that our culture focuses on the individual, the me. Society encourages an egotistical approach to life. We are expected to view ourselves as the only individuals who are of any real value. Other people are really only a means to whatever end we view as the most beneficial to us at any given moment. We pass up opportunities to help people simply because it is not convenient, or it does not seem to present any immediate reward for us. Friends, this should not be so!        The church is called to be the hands and feet of Christ, reaching out, helping, supporting, caring for and loving others. All too often, however, we fall into the trap of singularity. We know that we are supposed to help them, but the feeling of individuality within us often convinces us that it is not worth our time or effort to help. What is worse, we have even, in some ways, conditioned our minds to not even notice the needs of tho...
Read more