The Commitment
Make the commitment to reap! The Lord’s fields are intended to be harvested. The “reaping” commitment is for the intention of witnessing to and reaching the lost with the good news of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Making a commitment to soul-winning is to realize that there are lost persons in the world who are heading to an eternity in hell without Christ. What is witnessing? The Lord told the man delivered from demons, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” (Luke 8:39) Witnessing is telling others who need Jesus what He has done for you. In a courtroom, a witness tells what he saw or heard. That testimony is considered by those listening to help make a decision about the one on trial. The apostle John used this picture when speaking about Jesus—“that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3) The goal of witnessing is to lead others who are lost to join you in the saving fellowship of the Lord. The moment you were saved, you became an “ambassador” for Christ, charged with the ministry of reconciliation, imploring with unbelievers to be reconciled with Christ. Why? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) The problem is as Jesus further said in verse 19: “The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Will you commit to pointing the lost toward the Light?
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.