We who belong to Christ, our desires should be to help bring unto Him those who need cleansing and restoration . It’s a big job to have such a desire. What does it mean to have a "burden for lost souls”? It is a strange thing- burdens are usually something we think we DON’T want. But this burden I am talking about--caring for someone's eternity, someone you have never met before in your life-- is a great thing to have. First, If you know where they are headed apart from the salvation, you will have compassion. What is compassion? Compassion is sympathy, concern, consideration, and care. It can be hard to have those sort of feelings for people you don’t know. Let’s look for a brief moment at a few of the people the Bible says Jesus had compassion for:
MATTHEW 9:36- “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
MATTHEW 20:34- “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.”
MARK 1:41- “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.”
LUKE 7:12-13- “Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.”
Jesus had compassion--was concerned and cared-- for people, especially ones who seemed needy. But what about the people who shunned Jesus?
LUKE 23:33-35- “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him…Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…”
While dying, Jesus was asking His Father to forgive the ones who were having part in His murder. Amazing.
Jesus’ whole ministry and death was an act of compassion. He laid down His very life for people who deserve Hell. We should have that same compassion Jesus had for all the lost souls who God can set free!
We must LEARN to carry this burden for Jesus’ sake. It isn’t an easy thing to do. You don’t just wake up one morning and say, “The only thing I want today is for _______ to receive Jesus as Savior.” It is something only God can place in your heart. Pray and ask Him to give you this burden- pray that He will make your heart tender towards the thought of souls lost forever in a lake of fire. It is a truly saddening thought. This is something that I am praying about in my own life. I want to have a real burden and real compassion for people who are not in God’s hands. Also I want to have the courage to be a witness. I am weak, and struggle with having enough boldness to overcome my fears. I heard someone say once (about witnessing) that people love to ride roller coasters because of the fear and adrenaline rush they get. But hey! Speaking to others about Christ is the same way! It is scary, yet exciting---but we’d rather get that thrill by riding a roller coaster (not to mention when witnessing you’re on the ground and your life isn’t in danger).
To end this post, I’d like to encourage you to carry the same burden that Jesus had—for lost souls. We can easily feel sorry for people who are without money and are homeless….but do we have the same concern for their eternity?
6 comments:
Let me reword that. lol
I get so frustrated with how we Christians can be so scared of just telling someone about our Lord and Savior. God had enough love to come down and die by the most humiliating death anyone can think of. To save dirty, rotten, evil sinners like us! Why don't we have enough love and compassion to witness to the lost?
That's so true, Holly. We as the body of Christ need to have more of an urgency to tell the lost about Jesus. Thank you for your post!
-V4C
I remember the first time I heard the song "If We are the Body". The message was so powerful, I cried. (I was also in the car on my way home from work)
It's so easy to get caught up in the mission that we neglect the commission.
And, that burden should be for ALL lost because Christ's death was enough for all sin.
That means it is our privileged to share His gospel with straight, gay, black, white, junkie, drunk..... well you get the point. It's not just the people we would be comfortable next to in the pew.
The Holy Spirit draws through hearing of the Word. God gives the faith.
The only part we have in the equation is sharing the Word. We make it much harder than it needs to be.
Good post...
check out the songs over at http://therisingfall.com by the way, let me know what you think..
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