Go...

by:  Debi Baker

"²³ …Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and
urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full."

Luke 14:23 NLT

We had a missionary at church last night.  It was a time where he shared with us some of what he does in the missionfield.  As he shared, I began to think about this verse in Luke.  Jesus is telling us to go out.  We aren't supposed to stay in our comfy churches and 'let God bless us.'  We are supposed to go outside the 4 walls and cause people to come inside the walls.  Then, when those people begin to serve Him…they are supposed to go out.  And so on and so on. 

Can you imagine how empty the churches of today would be if no one went out?  Jesus came into this world to "seek and save that which is lost." [Luke 10:19]  He came with a purpose; that purpose was to get the lost saved.  The Bible tells us that we are to be like Christ.  So, it stands to reason that if He sought out the lost; we should do the same.  That fact is reiterated in Luke 14:23. 

Now, I'm not saying that each of us is to go to another country half way across the world.  Not everyone is called to go that far.  Each of us IS called to go.  Jesus said Acts 1:8 NLT,  "⁸ …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."   The symbolism in that last line is this:  Jerusalem = our family; Judea = Our neighborhood; Samaria = Our town; the ends of the earth = everywhere we are.  That means that there is a missionfield for each one of us.

God bless those that are one the world wide missionfield.  We need to see that Jesus is shared throughout the entire world…the tiniest of all villages in the deepest part of a jungle…those people need Jesus, too!!!  But just as important as that field is…so is our neighborhood, our town, our county, our state, our neighboring state.  Every person in the world deserves to hear the Gospel.  Every person has a right to hear the Gospel.  And from hearing it, they can make up their own mind about whether or not to follow Christ.  We are told only to draw them in…it is God that will do the work once they are in His house.

What missionfield will you be concentrating on…

May you be blessed as you minister on your missionfield,