“Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” (Genesis 33:26 NLT)
In a recent devotional Ron Hutchcraft recounted a tragic scene. He wrote: “When I fly into Washington D.C., I sort of flash back to an unforgettable scene. It’s been quite a while, but I can’t help but think of it as I see that same bridge. It actually happened way back in 1982 in January. It was when Air Florida’s flight 90 took off in Washington. It raked the 14th Street Bridge; plunged into the freezing waters of the Potomac River. I can still remember that image of the tail section sticking up out of the river and six survivors clinging to that plane.
And there was that rescue helicopter circling overhead, lowering a lifeline to those survivors. And there was this one middle-aged man who was unidentified in the news reports. He kept pushing the lifeline away and passing it to the other five passengers. Now, five people had been rescued. When the chopper went back for that sixth man, he’d slipped beneath the water. The pilot said later, ‘I have never seen one man with that much commitment.’”
Would you have been that sixth man? Or would you have been scrambling to get the lifeline for yourself? I’m quite confident that most, if not all, who read this blog would want to be the sixth man, but we dismiss the idea because we weren’t there on that freezing January day. Or we make other excuses: “I’m too old, I couldn’t have held on!” “I’m afraid of water, I would have had to get out as quickly as possible!” Or you can fill in your own excuse.
Think with me for a moment. Isn’t Jesus our “Lifeline” to heaven? It’s not like we have to make a choice – “us or them!” Jesus has already made that decision for us. In Revelation 22:17 the Bible says: “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who hears this say, ‘Come.’ Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.”
If your spouse, child, or grandchild was clinging with you waiting to be saved, wouldn’t you most assuredly have passed the lifeline to them before taking it yourself? Yet, here we are in the comfort and security of our homes going about our daily lives, often giving little or no thought to the people we love who aren’t ready to go to heaven.
Every day I cry out to God on behalf of my loved ones and friends who are lost and destined to an eternal misery unless someone warns them and pleads with them to come to the Savior. I know some of you well and I know your heart for your loved ones, and I applaud your efforts to point them to Jesus.
But I also know some who are reading these words rarely if ever give the lostness of your friends and loved ones a thought. You feel secure in your faith but believe it’s their responsibility to call out to God for themselves. And, yes, of course it is. But the words of Paul in Romans 10:14 ring in my heart: “But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?”
And some may say some version of: “But they were in church every Sunday they were growing up!” But did they listen? Did they ever really grasp what was being said about salvation in Christ alone by faith alone? Isn’t it worth writing them a detailed letter or having a conversation to determine what they do or don’t know and understand?
Let’s look at this further in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 