by Kevin Burton
“Those who have been reckless with their lives are usually reckless with their deaths,” writes Christian singer/songwriter and speaker Christine Wyrtzen in her blog on WordPress.
Her topic is spiritual blindness, which has been a Page 7 focus on recent Sundays.
“While the end of life should be sobering, even frightening, it is usually not enough to open blind eyes. A lifetime of sin takes its toll.”
“Spiritual blindness intensifies slowly as their heart hardens through years of rebellion. Without the Spirit of God’s intervention, it is unlikely that an unregenerate heart will become humble enough to see the glory of Jesus,” Wyrtzen writes.
To illustrate the point, she takes us back to the great flood.
“After 120 years of labor, Noah finished the ark. Final preparations were being carried out,” Wyrtzen writes. “Everyone except Noah’s family had ridiculed, but now they saw pairs of animals entering the ark; coming from every direction, without being herded.”
“Didn’t this unnatural animal behavior make them wonder? It should have. Yet, even though destruction stared them in the face, not one more person from that civilization approached Noah to inquire about salvation.”
“Why, when death stares mankind in the face, do they still take pride in their freedom to deny the truth? Wouldn’t a rational person do something different when defenses are down and their lifelong objections to Jesus are on the line? History says no.”
I’ve never caught a fish any bigger than my hand, so don’t watch this space for fishing advice.
My metaphorical tackle box contains nothing but good intentions. That is not enough.
Jesus invited Peter and Andrew to follow him and become “fishers of men” (Mark 1:16–18; Matt. 4:19).With the great commission He invites us to do the same.
Good intentions are a good starting point. But just as with fishing on your favorite lake, to be successful you need the proper knowledge and tools.
In the spiritual realm you need to know what you are up against. You have to understand that spiritual blindness has taken hold.
“Knowing the lost condition of the people around us will help us to understand that, no matter how good we are at fishing, we will never ‘catch’ the fish on our own,” reads a post on the website www.gotquestions.org.
“No reasoned argument will convert the soul of a darkened mind, because ‘the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’ (2 Cor. 4:4),” the website reads.
The fishers of men plan with good intentions and nothing more tends to begin with arguments. Ask any Christian you know how they got saved and let me know if anybody says a friend or relative argued them into the kingdom. It just doesn’t happen.
Yet this is the first thing we try. I’ve been guilty of that.
“What should I do if someone I love is approaching the latter years of their life and there is no sign that they will turn to Christ, their ark of safety? First, I should give up trying to argue them into the kingdom. A heated debate makes no one embrace Christ,” Wyrtzen writes.
. “The only tool in my hands to break the heart of stone is the Word of God and the Spirit of God. The Word and the Spirit,” Wyrtzen writes.
“Like strategically placed dynamite, the crusty exterior of a sin-affected, deceived, hardened heart is imploded by the reckless love of God.”
“The gospel message has the power to change lives, shine light into darkness, and deliver evil men from hell. There is power in no other message and no other ‘net’ can catch the fish of God,’” reads the Got Questions site. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16). “
“God can and frequently does penetrate the darkness with the glorious gospel, and He uses us to do it. He knows which ‘fish’ are His; therefore, we are to seek His wisdom and His guidance on all our fishing expeditions. Prayer is essential,” the Got Questions site reads.
“Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jer. 23:29 NKJV).
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