Troubled Jeanie. A person's last words are usually their most important words. Carefully chosen words. Words meant to have impact. Just before parting from this world after having risen from the dead to show Himself to over 500 of His followers (1 Cor. 15), Jesus spoke His last words. Jesus told them, "preach the gospel to every creature (Mk. 16:15)." He said, "it was necessary for the Christ to suffer [for our sins] and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all .... (Lk. 24:46-47).
Sadly, my flesh is weak, lazy, fearful, and self-centered. I don't naturally want to care enough about the destiny of those around me to step out of my personal comfort zone and, in the love and compassion of Jesus, ask people if they've heard the gospel and if they've acted upon it for their salvation. But, God is faithful and supplies me the grace and love that I lack and that I desperately need to overcome my flesh and step out in faith and love.
Today, God helped me share the gospel with one of His precious "creatures," a troubled woman named Jeanie. Walking back from lunch with some brothers (I'm blessed to work with lawyers who are fellow believers), we stopped to talk to a woman sitting on a bench. Her name was Jeanie. We asked Jeanie if she knew what her eternal destiny would be if something unfortunate happened and she were to die today. It didn't take long to realize that Jeanie was likely very troubled mentally and probably not competent. My heart went out to her. I can only begin to imagine the depth of compassion that Jesus has for Jeanie.
We tried to share the gospel with Jeanie. We explained that the good news is the fact that God sent His son to die in our place to pay the penalty for our countless sins and bear the weight of God's justice in order that we might receive the free gift (Rom. 6:23) of God's undeserved mercy and eternal life with the Lord in His Kingdom (Eph. 1-2). We explained how God gave the law, the 10 Commandments, to show us our desperate need for a savior (Gal. 3). And how God provided the Savior in His great love for us (John 3:16).
But, I'm really not sure how much, if any of it, Jeanie could actually comprehend. She repeatedly asked if we could bring back certain people from the dead, as if they may have been friends or loved ones of hers that she tragically lost. We acknowledged that we certainly couldn't bring anyone back from the dead, but tried to emphasize how Jesus taught through the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16) how much any of Jeanie's predeceased friends or loved ones would want her to act upon the gospel, repent, and trust Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior while she had time to do so.
In my flesh, I'm tempted to feel as though it may have been a waste of time. Yet, Jesus clearly said to share the gospel with "every" one of His precious creatures. I pray that the seeds of the gospel sown into Jeanie's life today will somehow in God's sovereignty bear fruit since we are born again by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever (1 Pet. 1:23). I trust that He is a wise and faithful and righteous Judge and will handle Jeanie's destiny in a manner that is right. All we can do is strive to be faithful witnesses and share with every creature, even those who may appear to be troubled in mind.
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