“My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.” James 5:19-20 MSG
My guess is that every person who is reading this message today has known at least one person who has wandered away from God. When these people are adults – even our own adult children – it can be tempting to “write them off,” thinking that we are helpless to change their minds. I have been guilty of this very mindset myself. But what if it is God’s will for us to “go after them” instead? Here are some ways we can do that.
We can pray for the eyes of their hearts to be enlightened so they would come to know the truth. (Ephesians 1:18)
We can bind Satan and his demons from operating against them, and trying to hinder them from accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior. (Matthew 18:18)
We can pray that the Lord of the harvest will put laborers in their path who will minister the truth of the Gospel to them in life-changing ways. (Matthew 9:38)
We can ask God to give them receptive hearts, and to give us opportunities to share the truth with them. But sometimes, we will not be the one that the Lord uses to reach them. We can, however, plant seeds in their hearts that someone else can water in the days ahead. Perhaps most importantly, we can set a Christlike example for them, so that we will not be a stumbling block to their faith.
The Lord wants to use you and me to “rescue precious lives from destruction.” When we do, we will be “preventing an epidemic of wandering away from God.” Who is it that the Lord wants you to help rescue today?
Lord, help me not to simply write people off when they wander away from You. Anoint and enable me to go after them, and to get them back, so I can rescue their precious lives from destruction by Your grace and power. Help me to set a Christlike example at all times, and teach me how to bind the enemy from operating against me and my loved ones. Thank You for using me to prevent an epidemic of wandering away from You in this world!
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