07/06/2018
We often pray for forgiveness, and in one such prayer we ask God to forgive us from those things we have left undone. Have you ever prayed this way and wondered what those undone sins might be? Well the most powerful example of these is not witnessing in word or deed to a sinner, either unsaved, or who has wandered from the faith. Not witnessing when we are able places the blood of that soul upon us, but by obedience we save our own souls.
“"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.”
Ezekiel 3:17-19 ESV
We are not tasked with saving, but with warning those who are in danger of being lost. Certainly we would like to bring souls to the Lord by our efforts, but like an oxen that pulls the plow... we are to go before and provide the effort that prepares a soul for the seed of faith. We are the foghorn that sounds on a dark and foggy night, warning ships from the rocks, and bringing them to safe harbor. In these acts we are righteous, but when we leave them undone we lose ourselves as surely as those who did not hear our voice.
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30 ESV
Often we have a vision of saving souls as being missionary work in a far off place where we witness to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ before, but in fact it can be within our own household where we deliver the word of warning to a soul we know and love who has wandered from their faith. By doing this we save two souls... the soul of our loved one, and our own.
“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
James 5:19-20 ESV
And then there are our actions. We have all heard the expression that “actions speak louder than words”, and there is great truth in this. Take a household in which the wife has come to Christ, but the husband remains hard in his heart; what does the Word say to us?
“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,”
1 Peter 3:1 ESV
And the same holds true for husbands as they are told to show honor and understanding to such wives even as they are lifted up in their prayers...
“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
1 Peter 3:7 ESV
Deliver the word, and the warning; don’t let those opportunities slip by. Leave nothing undone in this regard, and be not afraid. There are few things harder than a heart that has turned away from God, because it is being forged into a spear by Satan’s own hand. But God’s Word tells us that He can change this, because what He says of nations will certainly be done in our own house, and the word we neglected to speak would have been a puff into a heavenly forge from Christ’s own bellows...
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
Isaiah 2:4 ESV
Those things left undone... do you know of such occasions in your own home, or life? Have you seen opportunities to deliver the gospel in either word or deed and remained silent? Have you walked past someone in your workplace and heard the Spirit directing you to speak, but were afraid? These are cause to fervently pray the prayer for forgiveness for those things we have left undone! How will you pray today?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for lashing me to your plow and allowing me to break the ground for your seed of faith. I thank you for the call that directs my voice to become a puff of wind in the forge of Christ. I thank you Merciful Father for forgiving me when I miss these opportunities, but I thank you most for those times when the one word from me helps you bring salvation to a soul. In this I further thank you for covering a multitude of sins by your grace, and for delivering my soul in the process. There are many times when fear defeats me Father, and I let things go undone, or unsaid, that you have asked of me; give me courage and resolve to do those things. Even when I can’t see the final outcome, let me trust in you, and know that every request you make of me has a purpose. Give me the resolve of Joshua, as he obeyed those things you gave to Moses, and were passed to him. Let nothing you ask of me go undone Father. You are great, and though I am small, use me to bring glory to your name. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, whose voice I recognize, and whose commands shall not become my regret; shall not be those things left undone.
“Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”
Joshua 11:15 ESV
Rich Forbes