Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35
One of the clearest earmarks of lukewarmness in a born again Christian is the nonchalant apathy and lack of concern for the souls of each and every individual with whom there is interaction each day.
For most of my life, I have thought of two distinct groups of people, in relationship to the cross, those two groups being "lost" and "saved". In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 2 and 3, the apostle Paul defined those two groups, and showed the two sub-distinct groups of the saved, being the carnal and the spiritual in responsiveness to the Scriptures.
That means that every single individual in the world is either lost, carnal, or faithful. God is always at work to call the lost to Himself, to correct the waywardness of the carnal, and to progressively conform the spiritual to the image of His Son. If I am to cooperate with God, I must use His Word to evangelize the lost, exhort the carnal and encourage the faithful. But, in order to do so, I must have concern for, and interest in where they are spiritually.
As I have interpersonal relationships throughout the day, do I think of where each one is, in relationship to the cross? Or in relationship to the Scriptures?
May God help me today to remember that the fields are white already unto harvest.
(C) 1988, 2014 N.A Collins
Limited copy permission for one personal file copy
behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest. John 4:35
One of the clearest earmarks of lukewarmness in a born again Christian is the nonchalant apathy and lack of concern for the souls of each and every individual with whom there is interaction each day.
For most of my life, I have thought of two distinct groups of people, in relationship to the cross, those two groups being "lost" and "saved". In his first letter to the Corinthians, chapters 2 and 3, the apostle Paul defined those two groups, and showed the two sub-distinct groups of the saved, being the carnal and the spiritual in responsiveness to the Scriptures.
That means that every single individual in the world is either lost, carnal, or faithful. God is always at work to call the lost to Himself, to correct the waywardness of the carnal, and to progressively conform the spiritual to the image of His Son. If I am to cooperate with God, I must use His Word to evangelize the lost, exhort the carnal and encourage the faithful. But, in order to do so, I must have concern for, and interest in where they are spiritually.
As I have interpersonal relationships throughout the day, do I think of where each one is, in relationship to the cross? Or in relationship to the Scriptures?
May God help me today to remember that the fields are white already unto harvest.
(C) 1988, 2014 N.A Collins
Limited copy permission for one personal file copy
RSS Feed