I had the pleasure of receiving a note from a dear friend of mine Tuesday. He’s ninety years old and we have been friends for almost 40 years. In fact, at one point he and I were friendly competitors in the business world. He’s a remarkable human being – a devout Christ follower and wonderful person. We have done career transition work together and have even coached senior level executives together. When we started combining our skills in the ministry world more than twenty years ago, he was a staunch supporter helping people find their passion and living their best lives through their vocational choices.
But I was totally unprepared for our discussion yesterday. We have always been very open and authentic with one another and it was clear that something serious was on his mind. When we met at a local Starbuck’s he was anxious to get started. I couldn’t fathom what was so important. After all, earlier this year we met together and he asked me to conduct his funeral when the time came… it was the same with his wife who we have also known for many years. I actually met with the family, including his two daughters, and we outlined the whole process.
But Tuesday, he shared that he believed that he was still alive because his work on earth was not yet done… and I agreed with him. But his next statements took our discussion to a far deeper level. It seems that God has nudged him to tackle the most important project of his long life. My friend revealed that his two daughters, son-in-laws and granddaughter do not believe in Jesus! I could hardly believe it. After all, I have worked with this man for scores of years and he exudes a Christ centered life, as does his wife. How could you be around him and not believe!
He asked me to coach him on how to approach his middle aged daughters about accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. But he doesn’t believe he himself knows how to lead someone to Christ.
This issue, particularly with his daughters, has given a sense of urgency and direction to his life. After all, he feels that God has called him to take on this assignment. And after praying about it, he believes that I am to be a part of the plan to expose his family to the offer of eternal life that we, as Christ followers, have already accepted. I admit that the assignment is daunting and exciting at the same time!
I agreed to help him, but I wanted to be clear about our roles in leading people to Christ. Our job is to be available to be used by the Holy Spirit to expose people to Jesus. It is the job of God, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, to soften the hearts of people to be open to the idea of accepting Christ as Lord. We can’t force people to believe, nor can we take credit for those who eventually become believers. No human has ever “saved” anyone… and we certainly can’t accept salvation on somebody’s behalf… each must partake of the “lamb” individually. As I am fond of saying, if I eat a hamburger it doesn’t make you full!
But we can be used by God to provide information, prayer support and to be available when people have questions about eternal life. Frankly, we must be steadfast in our prayer support, imploring the Holy Spirit to cause people to be receptive to the idea of becoming believers.
That’s where all of you come in. In the almost thirteen years that I have been writing TBTB, I don’t think I have ever asked our readers to mobilize and provide prayer support for such an important undertaking. This isn’t raising money, or even praying for a health concern, although those things are very important – it’s how these non-believers are destined to spend eternity separated from God if the Holy Spirit can’t successfully nudge them to change their minds about God. As you know, we have free will – we don’t have to accept eternal life…
I promised my friend that I would spread the word and that we would need prayer support to address this issue with his family. He was totally on board with the idea. I hope that you will remember this family in your devotions and help us make an impact in the lives of these people.
Our verse for tonight is from the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew gives us the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:35-38, “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
My encouragement this evening is that God can use us to accomplish His purpose. And I don’t want to miss the blessings that come as a result of being in the will of God. My prayer is that if you feel lead to do so, you will join me in praying for this family and for my friend that he can find peace in the midst of this divine assignment.
As every Christian knows, there is power in prayer… prayer works! Please consider helping us out. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…