Too Busy to Care

“Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by?” (Lamentations 1:12)

Conservative estimates calculate that there were minimally 750 million people on the earth when God sent the flood. It’s astounding to me that out of all those people God only found one man, according to Genesis 6:9, who “was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time.” An argument could be made that it was miraculous that God found even one.

The Bible doesn’t tell us how long it took Noah to build the Ark, but it does tell us that while he was working on the Ark, he was warning the people of God’s righteous judgment (2 Peter 2:5). Yet, no one, not a single person, believed Noah.

Could it have been that the story Noah was telling was to them unbelievable? After all, it had never rained. Or, perhaps they were just so busy following the dictates of their sinful natures they didn’t care what God was up to. But then it started to sprinkle and suddenly everyone was interested. What will it take to get the attention of the people of our world?

There are a lot of parallels between Noah’s times and ours. Ironically, Jesus said in Matthew 24:37: “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.” God pronounced, far in advance, that the judgment was coming, but His message given through Noah was ignored. Yet, the unprecedented wickedness that prevailed when Noah was building the Ark, has literally been superseded by the wickedness and ungodliness of the world in which we now live.

What wasn’t considered to be acceptable behavior a generation ago is now common. What wouldn’t have been tolerated in videos a decade ago is now demanded. Are people today so blind to the consequences of their corporate sin or are they just too busy digging deeper spiritual holes for themselves to care?

My heart aches to see those I love conduct their lives as if there’s no judgment coming. Or be oblivious to the warnings that God has declared through His Word and through His messengers that what happened to humanity in Noah’s day is a foreshadow of things to come.

Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:6-7: “Then (in Noah’s day) He used water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.”

There are two avenues of thought as I ponder the soon coming end to life on this planet. Are those too busy to care, who are speeding to an eternity separated from love, joy, peace, and everything they’re striving to attain in this life? Or are those of us who know the Savior and are basking in our confidence that we’re going to heaven, too busy to care about those who are lost?

If I were to ask you, “When did you come to know Jesus?” Some would struggle to remember a specific date, as I would, but the key issue is, “Was there a time you confessed your need of a Savior, repented of you sin, and received God’s gift of eternal life in Jesus?” In some ways it’s like asking me if I’m married. There’s no middle ground. I’m married or I’m not. It’s similar in our relationship with Jesus.

Our life in Christ must have a beginning, and it demands ongoing cooperation with God’s Spirit to grow in our relationship with Jesus. In much the same way, if our marriage is going to be healthy, there must be cooperation and mutual desire to grow together. Additionally, there was very likely a person in your life, as there was in mine, who influenced you to yield your life to Jesus.

My point is this. Am I or are you that person for someone in our spheres of influence who is heading to a Christ-less eternity? I think of the chorus by Dr. Leon Tucker and Ira D. Sankey: “Lord lay some soul upon my heart, And love that soul through me; And may I nobly do my part To win that soul for Thee.”

Can we be so busy seeing the masses that we fail to see the person next door or down the street; the person who cuts our hair, bags our groceries, or serves us lunch? Do they mean nothing to us as we pass them by?

Blessings, Ed 😊