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Worth the Effort?
I love going through the Gospels and reading about Jesus and all the miracles He performed on so many people and to realise afresh what an amazing loving compassionate Saviour we have. Reading through Matthew’s gospel recently I came to Matthew 15 v 29 which says “Then he went up a mountainside and sat down”. But what struck me then was what the next verse said, which was “Then great multitudes came to Him bringing with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed and many others….and he healed them”. On reading that, my mind went to imagining what it must have been like trying to get the lame and the maimed up that mountainside to where Jesus was sitting. Undoubtedly some would have had to be carried and others supported in some way. I know we are not talking about Mount Everest here, but there would have been a good deal of effort involved to get them all uphill
The story above is not the only example in the Bible of an effort being needed to bring people to Jesus. The obvious story is the one where some men wanted to bring their paralytic friend to Jesus to be healed. They couldn’t get into the house because it was full so they climbed up onto the roof, hoisted their friend up after them and then proceeded to break through the tiles in order to lower him down to where Jesus was standing. Quite an effort required wouldn’t you say?
I also noticed some of the distances people travelled to bring others to Jesus. In Matthew 4:24 he tells us that Jesus fame had spread to Syria and from there they brought the needy to Him. The distance from Damascus in Syria to Galilee where Jesus was at this time is over 60 miles. That was a long way to take sick and infirm people in those days without public transport
This started me thinking about how much effort do I go through in order to bring people to Jesus? The love and compassion that these people had to bring their needy friends and family to Jesus must have been great. Do I have the same compassion? Do you have the same compassion? Am I, are we, prepared to put ourselves out in order to bring our friends and family to Him? In all three instances mentioned above they all got their rewards by seeing Jesus healing every one of them.
I know, for us, that there will always be those who will refuse to come to Jesus for salvation or healing but there will always be some who will. Didn’t you and I? It can be hard trying to share Jesus with others, and for some of us it may seem a daunting task. However, if we are prepared to put ourselves out in order to try to win souls for Jesus we will eventually get our reward. Is it worth the effort? There is nothing greater than being part of leading another person to Christ. Knowing that, as a result of our efforts, another soul has been saved for eternity is reward itself. Why not join me in prayer and ask God to use you to be a powerful and loving witness. Ask Him to show you opportunities to reach out to the lost around you, after all, there are so many
Dave Weeks
Pastor, Hope Church (retired)
image courtesy of Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
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