Proverbs 24:11 Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.

I have heard this verse used as a powerful encouragement to evangelism, and it is indeed moving when considered that way. Most of the time we don’t think about what it means to die without Christ. Too many people don’t believe in hell. There are actually some people who actively teach that “a loving God would not send people to hell.” He doesn’t. We choose it ourselves, when we turn our backs on Him. There have been many mass killings throughout history, and such scenes come to mind. Whether the instrument of death was a knife, a machine gun, starvation, or poisoned Kool Aid, they are all horrific. We can at least grasp what is going on in such situations. The thing is, the devil does all he can to blind us to what is going on when people are being led to eternal destruction. The most horrific thing about it is that at any point, rescue is possible. At issue is the will of the person being rescued. We can’t force anyone to repent and believe; they have to choose it themselves. What we can do is give them the information, present them with the possibility. That is evangelism. We have no definitive answer as to the fate of those who literally had no opportunity to make that choice, so we have to leave that in the hands of God. However, those who do know the Gospel have no excuse not to share it. We have very clear information as to the fate of those who make Jesus their Lord, and it is our duty and incredible privilege to increase that number as much as possible!

I have never considered myself to be a very effective evangelist, but I do know the joy of leading someone to faith and commitment. I have had the privilege of baptizing people from age 5 to 100. The five-year-old was already an amazing believer before she insisted that I baptize her before she had to move away from here. The 100-year-old (currently 101)  still needs assurances that heaven is real, and awaits her. There are people with whom I am working actively right now that I don’t know what is holding them back from that step of commitment, but I keep praying for them and showing God’s love to them. Just recently I heard that the father of a close friend, who had been stubbornly against becoming a Christian, was baptized by that friend’s pastor, the day before the friend arrived at the hospital, and yesterday I got news that the father had died. That’s too close for comfort, but it’s infinitely better than no commitment. I too have baptized people in their hospital beds, days before their physical death, and it is always a huge joy. I’d rather do it much earlier in their lives! For too much of my life I have felt that because I wasn’t gifted in that area, evangelism was something I could leave to others. I was forgetting Paul’s words to Timothy: “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5) I’m to do the work, and leave the results to God! There are an unlimited number of people all around me who are being led away to death,  and failing to do what I can to rescue them is inexcusable.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It’s not a very comfortable truth, in this nation that is made up of over 95% non-believers. I continue to pray for an outpouring of Your Spirit of repentance and faith, so that multitudes may be brought from death to life, for their eternal salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!