Saturday, October 13, 2018

A Message Meant to Be Shared

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.”

John 4:28-30

Though Jewish people in Jesus’ day would avoid going through Samaria if at all possible, His Father’s will took Jesus through that despised region, and brought Him face to face with a woman drawing water at a well. She had not lived an upstanding moral life by any means. The fact that she was getting her water at noon, the hottest time of day, is a good indication that she was not welcomed by others in her town. Yet when she met Jesus everything changed. Not only did she accept Him as the Messiah and Saviour, but she wanted everyone else to know about Jesus as well.

Each child of God has a responsibility to share the good news with others, and yet many Christians have no involvement in reaching the lost. According to one recent study, nearly half (48 percent) of regular churchgoers have never even invited someone to go to church with them for a service or special program, let alone present the plan of salvation. Almost two thirds said they had not shared Christ with a non-Christian in the past six months.

The lack of a burning desire to reach the lost is crippling the church. When Jesus selected the men who would spend three years with Him in intensive training and ministry, He knew that He would teach them many things. But there was one thing laid out clearly at the beginning that was His primary objective. “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). He has the same purpose and plan for our lives today.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

We have no more important assignment than to reach the lost with the gospel before it is too late.