Towers

Acts 20:24 (NLT) ~ But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

When I think about the people that God has and will put in my path to lead to Him, I am reminded of my constant failure in accomplishing that mission. All too often I fall prey to the temptation of putting my life and my desires above my real purpose. I think, especially in the chaos we are living in today, it is very easy to forget that we have the only truth that leads to eternal life. It is also very easy to not want to share that truth with those who ridicule and demean the precious faith we hold so dear. No matter how easily it is to list out the excuses for remaining silent, those excuses will not hold up to the fire our works must endure when we come before Christ.

This reminds me of the story about the man who reaches heaven and Peter is giving him a tour. They come across a big warehouse full of boxes. The man searches until he finds a box with his name on it. He eagerly opens the box and lets out a sigh of regret when he realizes the box is full of blessings God wanted to give him, but he never asked God to provide. What bigger blessing do we have than to lead someone to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? I have witnessed the miraculous, life changing moment when someone truly gives everything they have to Christ and they are redeemed. There is no greater joy than to see the light of the God of the universe enter someone’s spirit.

I need to be reminded on a regular basis that my life is nothing without Christ and means nothing if I do not remain diligently obedient in the great commission. In the tumultuous world we live in today, people are desperately searching for something that will help them make sense of everything, something that will help them find an anchor to hold on to in the rising tide. Even for a believer, this time in history can be scary. Imagine for a moment you don’t have the confidence and security of knowing where you will spend eternity. There are people we walk past every day that do not have that privileged hope in their lives.

I work in the public utility industry. The service we provide is a necessity. I have noticed a growing number of people becoming desperate to even maintain the necessities in life. The amount of phone calls I receive where the caller is so desperate, they are screaming in anger or reduced to tears is astounding. This is what I would consider a field white for the harvest. We can no longer hide in our ivory towers of salvation and ignore the desperation around us. Please know when I say "we" I mean "me"! I wouldn’t be writing about this if God was not convicting me.

We have a job to complete, and the time to complete it is drawing to a close. One day, much sooner than we can imagine, Christ will call us home. We will eternally be safe in the loving arms of our Savior. Who will we have left behind? Is there someone that automatically popped in your mind when you read those words? I know there are a few that came to my mind. My prayer is God is working in their hearts, softening it to be able to accept the truth. My prayer is also that we become bold, no longer remaining silent and complacent in our comfortable towers. I pray God shakes up our lives to the point we have an overwhelming burden for the people that need to know His truth. This image of towers reminds me of Rapunzel. Let down your hair, sister in Christ, and bring someone else up into the tower of Christ!!

Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying, Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; Weep o’er the erring one, Lift up the fallen, Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, Care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.