12/17/2017
Hearing the gospel, and having it fall on that fertile spot within you creates a need for it that is unquenchable. Are you one of those in whom the gospel of Jesus Christ has found a slight furrow inside you into which its seed has fallen and taken root? If so then despite the season you are in, you will be called to tend it... time and time again, day after day, until it bears sweet fruit. For all others there is darkness and a withering.
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
I attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and over the years since leaving that tough place, I have noticed that there are those alumni for whom these years were amazing and invaluable, others who found them hard and became bitter, and a few who saw them as just another college experience.
For those that found the experience invaluable, there is an inexplicable draw to return there. They might regularly attend sporting events, or just come to walk around and reminisce... they might come back once every few years, several times a year, or just to attend their class reunions quinquennially (every five years), but they must return.
The individuals that found their experience there to be unnecessarily hard, and who have become bitter about it, rarely return... if at all... but there is a portion of them who also find that they must return. This hard and demanding place holds a memory for them that is incredibly strong albeit distasteful, and they must journey back there to make sense of their feelings towards it, and to come to grips with it.
Then finally there are those who walked through their cadetship convincing themselves that it was just another college, and that what they were experiencing meant nothing beyond the personal challenge, and the degree they would obtain. Yet, amazingly, I have found that even this type comes in two flavors... those who return for reunions to see a few friends, and those who... after leaving... have had an epiphany that reveals to them the unique, intrinsic, and invaluable impact this place truly had on them.
The strong emotion that VMI brings out in these alumni is similar to the seed of faith that the gospel casts upon those who hear it. You can love it, or hate it, but none can be ambivalent to it. Once heard it will demand a choice from you. Once heard you will feel drawn to it and must decide how you will address it.
Many who become faithful hear the gospel message and then immediately begin their journey towards righteousness; for others they begin a process of mulling it over that might take years to grow to the point where it germinates; and then there are those who reject it entirely, and find themselves forever lost to its allure. The unbelievers who reject the gospel travel about in the world not hearing the soft voice of God calling to them... they have distanced themselves sufficiently. Finally, for those few who are neither hot nor cold, God continues to call out to them until at last He spits them from his mouth. Their answer by default becomes no.
“So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”Revelation 3:16-17 ESV
For those who reject Him, or maintain their lukewarm position towards Him to the point of being spit out, the gospel is lost, and there is no meaning. The spiritual portion of them falls into darkness and atrophies... leaving them to travel life, and the world, alone.
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ESV
So what happens to these lost and wandering souls? They see the world as their oyster and remain spiritual castaways until Jesus returns, and on that day they will be drawn to Him in judgement.
“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."”John 12:32 ESV
The question for each of us becomes this... do you believe? The answer is simple, and must be either yes or no. There is no “maybe” that can redeem us and win us grace... only the words “Here am I” will suffice.
Prayer:
Father I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who redeemed me, and the simplicity of my profession of faith in Him. I thank you for leading me to you, and for the crossroads that I found myself at when you called to me “This is the way!” I am so thankful Father for answering “Here am I” when you called, and I pray fervently for those lost souls who turned back to a life in the world without answering you. Help them Lord, and let the seed of the gospel blow around within them until at last it finds a fertile furrow; waiting ground. I pray Holy Father that you hold all of them that are lukewarm in your mouth for as long as you can, and that you give them ample time to call out to you before you spit them out. You are my God, and Jesus my savior... let the fruit of my faith be pleasing to your palette always, and my branches be heavy laden. Praised be your name Father, for you are good, and greatly to be praised.
Rich Forbes