God does not play favorites when it comes to salvation, giving only those brought up in a certain culture or religion the opportunity to receive Him. He loves His Hindu children and His Buddhist children and His Muslim children just as much as His believing children, and He has provided a way that, if they receive Him, they will not miss out on His eternal blessings.
Our God is a God of love, a God of understanding, a God who knows and cares deeply for each of His creations. He understands all that they go through. He not only died for them, but every day throughout their lives, He works in their hearts to bring them closer to Him and to show them His love. The God who made this great sacrifice of giving His own Son will not let go of His precious ones, but continues to reach out to them through His Spirit throughout their entire lives. In His great love for each of His creations, His desire is to have them live forever with Him in His magnificent kingdom.
The Lord has given us the priceless privilege of knowing this truth, and we have the important calling of witnessing His salvation to the lost. As Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.”1 Why do you suppose Jesus went to all the trouble to come to this earth and stay here so long? If He had just come to die on the cross for our redemption and go back to heaven, He wouldn’t have had to go to all the sacrifice and effort of continually giving of Himself to preach the gospel everywhere He went. He said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”2
Then after His death when He appeared to His disciples, He confirmed the call to preach the gospel. He said, “As the Father has sent Me, even so I am sending you.”3
The Lord goes to such great lengths to pour out His Spirit upon us, to shower us with His words of life and hope and light and understanding. We have been given such a wealth of wisdom, waters of life to swim in, and the power of His Spirit to reach the world with His truth. God’s Word, like His love, isn’t put in our hearts to stay there. God’s wonderful Word isn’t going to accomplish much in the lives of others until we share it with others.
We can’t stand by, secluded in our blessings, when so many people in the world are starving for the way, the truth and the life, and are reaching out even for little crumbs. We are not our own; we are bought with a price.4 All the Word and the love that the Lord has showered upon us is not only to make us happy and challenged, but it is for sharing with others.
This knowledge of His eternal truths that we have been so privileged to partake of is not meant to cause us to simply rest in our own salvation and promises for eternity. As His children, we have been richly blessed above all people on the face of the earth. But with that blessing comes great responsibility, as we are also called to be the dispensers of the Word and His love to those who have not heard. May we be faithful to do our job well!
Whether people are very rich or very poor or somewhere in between, they are all destitute if they don’t know Him. The only truly wealthy people in this life are those of us who hold the true riches of His Spirit and truth, the treasures in heaven, where our hearts are.5 We are as the ultra-wealthy in the Spirit because we have the wealth of His Word, which brings us life, peace, and an eternal future with Him.
The Lord in turn sends us forth as His ambassadors. It is our commission to tell people of the true riches they can have right now. God freely gives His treasures to those who ask and receive His free gift of salvation; He does everything possible to dispense His wealth to all who are hungry and needy.
The Lord is interested in scattering the seed abroad everywhere! He wants us to reach as many as possible with His message of salvation. He wants us to each do our part to sow the seeds and spread His salvation message far and wide so that people will know His love.
There are millions of lost sheep who need to hear the truth and make a commitment for Him, to receive Him into their hearts so that they will belong to Him, so that they will know that they are bought with a price and that they belong to Jesus, and that they are His and they can’t belong to this world. It is a time to scatter the seeds as much as we can. We must not be selective in spreading the message of salvation. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”6
So let’s be faithful to let others know about His love at every opportunity—giving them tracts,7 sharing Bible verses, telling them “Jesus loves you and wants you to be happy,” asking them, “Would you like to pray to receive Him?” or witnessing His truth in any other way you feel led.
Pray desperately that the message you give and the words you speak will fall on receptive ears and hearts. You don’t know who is hungry, so you have to scatter the seed over as wide an area as possible. Some seeds will fall on hard, dry ground, but others will reach good ground and take hold.
Even if you don’t see a lot of results right away, you can rest on His promise that God’s Word will not return unto Him void. It will accomplish His purposes.8 Whether in this life or the next, you will hear of those who have found Jesus’ eternal happiness through your witness and sharing His Word.
For more writings by Maria Fontaine, visit Directors Corner.