June 24th – Proverbs 24: Saved to Save!

“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” – Proverbs 24:11

We are called to rescue those being led away to death and those staggering towards slaughter. There is simply no other reason that Jesus would save our souls here on earth and then leave us here until He comes back or we go to see Him! We who have been saved are called to save the lost. Salvation is not a personal thing, it’s a global thing. Selfish believers are ones that keep the glorious grace of the Gospel to themselves and don’t share it with the lost and dying around them. This Gospel only works as we pass it on. What we have been given, we are to give!

“As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” – Matthew 10:7,8

We have been freely given the Gospel, to NOT freely give it away is madness! I have heard Atheists exclaim, “If I believed in an eternal hell, how much would I have to hate someone to not give my life to warn them from impending disaster?!” It’s true, our apathy concerning the Gospel is proof to the world that either we don’t really believe in an eternal Heaven/Hell or love the world enough to tell them about it! It’s one thing to share the Gospel and be rejected. It’s another thing entirely to neglect the sharing of the Gospel for fear of rejection. We as believers need to overcome our fear of men and embrace the fear of God. It’s way scarier to me to deal with the Face of God in eternity than to deal with the face of men here in this temporal world.

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

This constant recognition that God is watching our lives and knowing our motives and that ultimately we will be held accountable for what we do (or don’t do) is called the Fear of God… and it’s a good thing! The rest of this Proverb tells us precisely that:

“If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” – Proverbs 24:12

LIFE LESSON:

You can fool yourself and pretend that it doesn’t matter what you do in this life, but deep down, we know the truth… don’t we??