“Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23
“Wow! Look at that sunrise,” my husband, “Sweet Larry,” said to me as we were driving to the clinic for his early morning bone marrow biopsy. “Isn’t that beautiful?” As I was agreeing with him and praising the Lord for the work of His hands on full display before us, the song “Come Jesus Come” by Stephen McWhirter began to play on the car radio…
“Sometimes I fall to my knees and pray. Come Jesus come, let today be the day.
Sometimes I feel like I’m gonna break. But I’m holding on to a hope that won’t fade.
Come Jesus come. We’ve been waiting so long for the day You return to heal every hurt and right every wrong. We need You right now.
Come and turn this around. Deep down I know this world isn’t home. Come Jesus come; come Jesus come.
One day He’ll come and we’ll stand face to face. Come and lay it all down, cause it might be today.
The time is right now. There’s no need to wait. Your past will be washed by rivers of grace.
Come Jesus come. We’ve been waiting so long for the day You return to heal every hurt and right every wrong. We need You right now.
Come and turn this around. Deep down I know this world isn’t home. Come Jesus come; come Jesus come.“
While listening to the lyrics, I couldn’t help but cry tears of both joy and sadness. I had the joy of knowing that no matter what my husband’s test results were, he was ready and waiting to meet the Lord. But profound sadness in knowing that millions of people in this world are not. And as much as I hopefully anticipate, desperately yearn for, and relentlessly pray for the return of my Savior—I also pray earnestly for opportunities to lead folks to salvation before it’s too late. You see, the Bible clearly tells us that we must be ready—because Christ will return at a time when we least expect it. Sadly, that means the millions of people in our world who are not born again, will not be granted access into the eternal presence of God.
The thought of anyone we know suffering in eternal hell should grieve the heart of every believer so much that they are filled with a sense of dire urgency to share the Gospel. The command of Jesus is to “go out into the highways and hedges, and compel” the lost “to come in.” People who have chosen sin and death can be rescued from the pain, anguish, and terror of hell through the Gospel.
Every single believer in Jesus Christ must be working outside of the four walls of the Church and go into schools, streets, neighborhoods, cities, and anywhere we live to reach people with the Good News of the Gospel. Our search and recovery mission should be exhaustive and ongoing until the day we go to be with the Lord or He returns and meets us in the sky.
The Apostle Paul declared “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” Each of us must also have this attitude! And then we must pray for, look for, be prepared for, and seize—every opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. We must share our testimony and be ready to disciple!
Christian, are you ready? Is everyone you know ready??? Let us all join together in the great Commission of Christ!
Heavenly Father, thank You for promising eternal life to all those who place their trust in You. Help our life to draw others into Your presence so they desire You. Remind us that hell is a real and awful place so we do all we can to keep people from going there. Lord, help us to remember that the harvest is ripe and we are the workers that need to be found busy bringing in the harvest upon your return. It’s in your precious name we pray. Jesus. Amen.
Melissa Sharp is an ultra runner and running coach who has completed more than 100 marathons and ultra marathons. Melissa has learned how to keep running the race of life for the glory of Christ even though she endured decades of domestic abuse. Melissa is a survivor. Through her daily blog thejoyfilledrunner she inspires others to live in the strength of Christ.
