A HEART FOR SOUL
ACTS 9:3-4
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Talking of divine appointments? Many Christians are not good at utilizing the opportunities that come their way for preaching Jesus Christ. Almost everyday we come into contact with people whom we can tell about Jesus Christ but we shy off. We have our own colleagues, friends and relatives but many of them get surprised when they hear us confessing to others about Christ! They ask within themselves why we do not share this Christ with them if He is what they testify…why…why…
When the government was "retrenching" civil servants, I realized that many Christians, were not spared off the axe. Why? I came to realise that most of these workers who had been retrenched never preached Jesus to their co-workers. Even their co-workers never had their testimony of their knowledge of Jesus Christ and therefore, many Christians failed in fulfilling this divine duty. God puts us in such positions so that we can be able to reach souls for Christ. We must all have a heart for the lost souls just as Jesus reached out for Saul who was a persecutor of the church. And in return, Saul, the apostle Paul, used every opportunity that came his way to preach to the high priests, kings, prisoners and the gentiles.
Unlike today when everybody minds his/her business, Paul cared for the dying sinners. We much launch out in this great commission and tell those around us about Christ. By so doing, the whole world can be reached easily since by sharing with friends, we can have this chain of testimonies reaching the un-reached much faster and effectively.
A friend of mine, who is also a lay leader in a neighboring church, told of an experience which I related to that of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, where Jesus Christ was explaining on who our neighbour is. This layman, as he related, wanted a cabin for his television set which he had bought in the USA during his tenure of studies. He had acquired the set at a throw-away price. He therefore saw a carpenter and gave him the measurements for the TV and paid him the amount he required. Later on, he understood that the carpenter wasn’t a genuine and a sincere man and as word went round, he was told that the man could take years if he at all makes the cabin! This was due to his drinking habit since he was a confirmed alcoholic.
Now, instead of this lay person taking the opportunity to preach Christ to this sinner, he decided to ‘blast’ him off every time he visited his workshop since he was angry for being cheated. Then the carpenter fell sick, even before he started making the unit and he was hospitalized where the wife of the layman was a surgeon. The layman wanted his money back or the cabin, nothing more, nothing less. Not even a visit in the hospital. He cared much about his cabin that he wanted him out of the hospital so that he could force the cabin out of him. Then, the news came; the carpenter fell into a coma, he lay in the bed unconscious, unable to speak, unable to talk, unable to eat or drink…unable to see and make a cabin! And then…...then he died….a sinner. My layman friend’s eyes opened. He had missed an opportunity to preach to a dying soul, it was a great loss to him since he had lost his money and an opportunity to lead a soul to Christ. He lacked a heart for the soul and it cost him as he learned a lesson - a costly lesson.
Do you utilize the divine appointments and opportunities that come your way? Or are you about to be retrenched of your position? You may be in a position where the Lord has brought to you a person who doesn’t know Christ. The person may not be a business partner, a relative, a friend etc and He wants you to tell him the message of love. Pray about it before you approach the individual, for what the Lord cares much about is the soul of the person and not your relationship.
Use the opportunity today and you shall reap the Lord’s blessings. When the Lord brings men and women, young and old to you, He expects you to tell them about Christ, and if you fail, He may have no other reason but shift your position. You can actually attain your promotion in your job once you preach Christ to the colleagues you serve with. And there’s a way for you to reach the seniors in your job: by being promoted to their level. Go ahead and try it today, I am sure you will never be disappointed.
