What would you think if you learned I saw a helpless baby lying in a street and had a chance to rush out and rescue it from oncoming traffic, but instead I left it there because I was "too busy" to stop or "too scared" to act? Your God-given conscience would justifiably scream with rage at the thought of such an horrific injustice.
Sadly, for most of my "Christian" life I was guilty of a far worse sin of omission--not taking time to learn how to share the life-saving Gospel with people in my path each day who may be oblivious to the oncoming "traffic" of entering eternity unsaved and facing hell.
A couple of years ago, God convicted me of my gross sins of omission. He showed me his followers learn to fish for men (Matt. 4:19). He gave me grace and boldness to obey him and share the gospel.
I bought resources to learn to share. I prayed for grace to put what I was learning into practice. And I began to take baby steps to "GO" and share the gospel. It's been an amazing, exciting journey of faith and of learning from the Master to "fish" for eternal souls, souls for whom the God of the Universe died.
Let me tell you about a "helpless baby" I saw in the "street" today. I didn't pass her by. I stepped out of my way to reach out to her. Her name was Jessie. She was probably in her 20s. She sat with her boyfriend outside the Tulsa County Courthouse. I walked up to them, said hello warmly, and handed them some gospel tracts.
"Would you like some free information to help with your day in court," I asked? "Sure," they said. I explained the tracts had tips for the Courthouse and contained a gospel message. I asked if they had a church background. (This question is to help break the ice and turn toward spiritual things.) The young man said yes, but Jessie said no. I asked if they knew where they would spend eternity if they were to die today. The young man said heaven. Jessie said she didn't know.
I told Jessie the bible says we can know our eternal destiny (1 John 5:11-13). I asked if she would like to know how she could be sure her destiny would be heaven. Since she said yes, I began to explain to her the gospel, beginning with the law and its awful implications. She realized she would rightfully be judged guilty of breaking God's law if she died today (John 3:36).
I then shared the good news that Jesus paid for our sins with his own life's blood, so we can receive God's mercy if we will believe and repent (Mk. 1:15). I asked her if she believed Jesus is God who died in her place and rose again the third day (we talked about the evidence for the truth of the resurrection). She said she believed. I then explained she had a choice to make. Will she repent--cry out for forgiveness and turn to follow Jesus with her life? I asked if she had ever repented before. She said no. I asked when she was going to repent and follow Jesus. She said she would think about it. I urged her to do it before it's too late, because she did not know when her last day would be.
Since she didn't own a bible, I gave her a Gospel of John and marked John 8:31-32 for her, where Jesus said his real followers continue in his word. I urged her to read part of John each day, ask God to help her understand it, and ask God to help her obey it. I explained that's what a real follower of Jesus does, one who has genuinely been born again. They actually follow Jesus on the "narrow way" that leads to life.
I pray Jessie repented and trusted Christ for salvation and is following him today. But, I can sleep peacefully about it tonight. I didn't abandon her to her helpless state of a complete lack of awareness that she stood under the just wrath of God (John 3:36). I didn't leave her in the street. She now knows how to get out of the way of an eternity in hell. I pray she will act on what she has learned before it's too late.
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