01.26.09

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. - 2 Peter 3:8-10.

Barry Baker thought that he was having a heart attack and called the emergency number for help. Baker was 59 years old, lived alone and was disabled after having hip replacement surgery. When the emergency personnel arrived at Baker’s home the telephone line to emergency services was still open. The two emergency personnel that responded to the call discussed the poor condition of the house and reportedly said, "words to the effect that he was not worth saving." They decided that Mr. Baker was not worth the trouble of trying to resuscitate, and that they would tell supervisors that the man was already dead when they arrived. The entire conversation was recorded over the open line. The personnel involved were arrested for failure to perform "a duty in public office."

The two emergency services personnel involved in the above event decided that they would act as God and determined that Barry Baker was not worth saving. I wonder how many other times they have made similar decisions and were not caught? Did they really not think the man was worth saving or were they just lazy and not want to do their job?

The great evangelist Dwight L. Moody wrote, "For the last eleven years I have not let a day pass without saying something to somebody of Christ. Make it a rule that never a day pass without speaking for Christ. People won't like it. If you are a living witness for Christ it makes people mad against you. You will suffer persecution, and be spoken against, and yet they will send for such a man first when they are in trouble or on their death-bed." Moody tells a story of it being late in the day, and he had yet to share Christ with anyone. As he was walking trying to find someone he encountered a big rough looking man and thought to himself that it would be a waste of time to share Christ with a man like that. However, since there was no one else around, Moody stopped the man and told him about Jesus. To the great surprise of Moody, the man immediately gave his life to Christ with many tears.

Have you ever thought that it would be a waste of time to share Jesus with someone? Have you failed to take advantage of an opportunity to tell someone about what Jesus means to you because you thought they would not respond? Do you look at some young people and think because of the way they are dressed, or by the way that they are acting, or by their piercings and tattoos that they would not want a relationship with the Lord? Do you see older people talking with rough language and think they could never come to know the Lord? When we fail to share Christ with others are we not doing something very similar to what those two emergency personnel did with Mr. Baker? Are we not taking the place of God and saying that they are not worthy of eternal life?

Who is it that is worthy of eternal life? Who should we share Jesus with? The apostle Peter says, "The Lord is not…willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." Who is it that the Lord would have to be saved? The answer is "all." The Lord wants "all" to be saved. Some may reject our witness and the witness of the Holy Spirit through us, but it is not up to us to try to determine in advance who will receive the Lord or who will reject the Lord. Because it is not the Lord’s will that "any should perish."