One Thing Missing in Heaven

This is a repost from 11/26/08. I haven't had much time to create new posts with the Spring semester and my hospital rotations so I figured I'd repost a few of my favorites until I can put up some new ones. This one is particularly important to me.

Heaven, we cannot begin to comprehend what it is like. There will be joys unspeakable.

Revelation 21:4-5, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'"

1 Corinthians 2:9, "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'"

Yet, though we cannot even imagine all the wonderful things our Father has in store for us, there will be one good thing we cannot do in heaven: Lead souls to Christ. (I heard that on 3abn)

That privilege is only available to us right now, while we await His coming. How terribly sad if we waste this one opportunity to draw near to Christ in a way that we shall never be able to again, namely, to participate with Him in His work, to be co-laborers with Him.

How sorrowful we'll be if we miss out on the joy of seeing a person's very soul saved from destruction because they chose to believe in Christ, whom we, through His power, led them to.

Shouldn't evangelism should be every Christian's top priority. Shouldn't we think of the great need of others before our own needs? I'm saying this to myself as much as anyone, because I have been woefully ineffective at uplifting Christ in my daily conversations with unbelievers.

Christ commanded in Mark 16:15-16, "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.'"

Sometimes we feel like we're not good enough to witness, not "Christian" enough to spread the Gospel. When Christ commanded His disciples to preach to all the world, were they perfect? No way, and far from it! They had all just fled from Jesus and then, after He was crucified, thought all their hope was gone. Peter had just denied Christ 3 times, and was still prejudice against anyone who wasn't a Jew! Thomas wouldn't even believe Christ had risen until he saw Him with his own eyes!

I think the problem is that we think that we're doing the work of spreading the Gospel, when, in fact, it is Christ working through us to plant seeds. Then the Holy Spirit causes that seed to take root in a person's mind and grow until it bears fruit. We are only tools. As broken as we may be, if we will surrender our heart to Christ, He is able to use us. So let's try not to get hung up on if we feel worthy enough to evangelize. Just do it and trust the results to God.

So let's pass out Bible studies door-to-door, or leave them at the Dr.'s Office or at work, or let's mention to anyone we talk to how great God has been in our lives, how much He's done for us in spite of our failure and mistakes. Let God's praise be continually on our lips. Let's lend Christian movies to friends and family. Most importantly, let us make unceasing intercessory prayer for those around us. :-)