“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored…” (2 Thessalonians 3:1, NASB).

A physician colleague and close friend of mine is Muslim and loves Allah with a deeper devotion than most church goers love Jesus. I respect the depth of his devotion, though not the truth of it. He was in my office talking about our friendship and said to me, not sincerely, “When our time comes, if you are in heaven, and I am not, reach down, grab me and pull me up.” I answered, not sincerely, “I will, if you’ll do the same for me.”

Is there someone you care for deeply, for whom you pray daily, who just won’t accept Christ as their Savior?

If there isn’t, why not?

If we are not praying daily for a specific someone to find God through Christ, either we don’t believe enough, or don’t care enough, or don’t infiltrate the lost world enough.

Only a few are called to win the masses for Christ, but each of us is called to share Christ with someone around us.

If you do have someone in mind, don’t you wish you could just grab them and drag them into God’s arms and save them from the separation that lasts forever? If it were in your power to take that spouse, or child, or patient, friend, or stranger and lay them before the risen Lord, so they would know Him, would you not do so?

However, that power is not ours. Thank God that only He has the power to transform any of us from eternally-lost to eternally-found.

However, God does ask us to join Him in that great work of redemption.

How?

1. Care enough to pray daily for someone.
2. Infiltrate the lost world to meet those who need to know Him.
3. Live openly as an authentic follower of Christ.
4. Abide with Christ so that He may show Himself through me.
5. Pray together with others for those we know who are lost.
6. Love actively to address any need.
7. Ask the Holy Spirit for His presence in my daily encounters.
8. Be bold and risk my reputation if God asks me to speak.
9. Trust Him totally for results.

That’s how we “grab” others with God and bring them to heaven.

Dear God,

Thank you for grabbing me. Please grab others through me, including my dear friend above.

Amen