By Lilly White, age 14
Imagine there is a deadly disease infecting and killing all people, spreading worldwide, and you have the one and only cure. What are you going to do with this cure? Will you keep it to yourself? Or will you tell others about it so that they also may live? Yes, some may reject this cure. Maybe they don’t believe that it will heal them. Maybe they don’t think they have the disease in the first place. Maybe they believe there’s another easier cure. But maybe there are some who will listen, some who may be saved!
Sin is a deadly disease, and we, as Christians, have the one and only cure for this disease; Jesus. We’ve experienced His forgiveness and the hope and freedom found in our faith. But the truth is that there is a world out there full of sin and people who don’t know how to be saved from it; who do not know the Cure. Who will tell them? If not us then who?
We have been commanded to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If someone you loved was inside a burning building, would you not do everything within your power to warn them of the danger and save them from certain death? If we truly love others as the Bible commands us to, we should do all that we can to warn the lost of the danger and reality of hell. The most loving thing you can ever do is share Jesus with an unbeliever. A firefighter rescuing people from a burning building may be fearful, but he ignores his fears and denies himself. Like him, our thoughts should not be on ourselves but on the fate of the perishing.
In Luke 12:5 Jesus said, “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” If hell didn’t exist, we would have a legitimate excuse not to share our faith. But the Bible clearly tells us what awaits guilty sinners. How coldhearted we would be to not warn others of its reality!
And 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” We should always be prepared to tell others about our faith. This causes us to search the Scriptures. Wanting to be prepared for every question we could possibly be asked when sharing our faith will send us to God’s Word for the answers.
Witnessing helps us grow as believers and strengthens our faith. It draws us closer to God, deepens our prayer life and also deepens our gratitude for the cross. As we continually preach the cross, it will deepen our understanding of what Jesus did for us.
In Mark 16:15 Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We have been commanded to share the gospel by our Lord and the King of the universe. We need no other reason. Not only out of obedience, but also out of love for our Lord and for every living person, we should be compelled to share the gospel and act upon it. Obedience is evidence of salvation. We are not saved by our obedience; we are obedient because we are saved. But to remain in silence is a sin.
We have been commanded to imitate Paul. Paul showed his love for God and for the lost by his obedience to the Great Commission. In 1 Corinthians 10:33—11:1 Paul says, “I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” And so we should do just as Paul did and boldly proclaim the gospel.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others. He will be like the brave fireman, who cares not for the scorch or the heat, so that he may rescue the poor creature on whom true humanity has set his heart.”
How can we keep silent? How can we keep this amazing hope we have in us to ourselves? How can we stand by and watch the whole world fall into the darkness of sin and into an eternity of hell and separation from God? We know the only Way to heaven, the only Cure to the disease of sin. We have the Light in us. Will we hide it from the world? Or will we stand up for the truth and boldly proclaim the Good News to the world?
Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” I hope that today we can all say with confidence that we are not ashamed of the gospel, of our Lord. So let’s not keep silent. Let’s tell the world of this hope we have, of the only Cure.
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