Is God Calling You?
I found myself longing for some time alone with God so I drove to the local graveyard. It had, many years ago, became my special meeting place with Him. I didn’t have much to say but we communed in quiet peace while my mind came to rest.
My eyes searched the tomb stones and I started to wonder about the people who lay beneath the graves. What did they look like? What color was their hair? What color were their eyes? What was their profession? Who were they? The one thing they all had in common is they all died and they all had to face eternity. I kept wondering who they were and where they are now. As I rounded the corner I came upon the newer section, my eyes focused on a fresh grave and I immediately felt God place on me a tremendous burden for His people.
My heart sank with fear that maybe I didn’t touch His people enough and now I don’t know where they are spending eternity. We are ALL sinners but Jesus died for us so that we can be forgiven of our sins and spend eternal life with him. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. My heart grew heavier and I wept as I thought of the lost souls that I haven’t shared this good news with.
Seeing hundreds of graves made my burden stronger. I began to fear that if I pass up the opportunity to witness, I may be giving someone a one-way ticket to hell. I need to do all that I can to tell others about the love of Jesus Christ and His grace and power to redeem and save them.
God placed before my mind a vision of a lady and she died an early, unexpected death. She is standing in front of Jesus and he shows her the gate to heaven. She can hear the most beautiful music flowing from behind the gate. There is another gate to the other side of her. That gate is dark with ugly worms crawling on it. There is screaming and yelling coming from it – painful cries, wicked anger and hatred. I see Jesus standing in front of her and he says “I’m sorry but I never knew you.” The lady says “Oh please let me in -- no one ever told me you were real.” Jesus says “I’m sorry, but I never knew you.” She says “Please let me in, don’t you see if someone would have told me I would have believed.” Jesus says “I’m sorry, depart from me, I never knew you.” She gets led to the dark gate and I can hear her echoing cries “BUT NO ONE EVER TOLD ME!!!!”
Then I saw a Christian man standing bowing down in humbleness to Jesus. Jesus shows him flashes of his life, both the good and bad, and says “well done my good and faithful servant, you will enter my gates but I need to show you one thing that disappointed me .... you were supposed to be a preacher. When you were young, I gave you that calling but you didn’t listen. Please see, my dear child, there are thousands who are not going to be here because you didn’t do what I told you to.” The young man fell down crying and begging Jesus to forgive him.
As my vision ended, I realized that the man was me. He is me when I don’t listen to God’s call on my life. He is you if God is telling you to give that testimony, invite that neighbor to church or tell that friend what God has done for you and you don’t do it. Every minute of our lives is a gift from God and we need to use each precious one to serve Him and bring Glory and Honor to His name. We live in a lost world. People know something is missing in their lives – they just don’t know it’s Jesus. The Bible instructs us in 1 Corinthians 4:2 “Those who have been given a trust must prove faithful”. We need to share the plan of salvation and reach the lost. Is God calling you?
Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”