Need for new vision!

I learned a lot of lessons on our recent trip to Disney.  Among others was the importance of having a plan. I also learned the importance of being flexible and holding loosely to that plan, but that is not the focus of this blog. The focus today is the importance of the plan, the vision, if you will. God's Word tells us that where there is no vision, the people perish. How true that is! If we do not have a plan to reach others, the people who have not yet heard will indeed perish.

In worship today, our pastor, Dr. Chuck Pourciau, preached the Word from Luke 13:22-30. He talked about the one that came to Jesus asking about those who were true followers of Jesus, as opposed to those merely following along for what they might get out of it. Jesus' response was not to worry about the others that were or were not following Him, but to point the one questioning him to truly follow.

Maybe the one questioning Jesus wanted to belittle Jesus for having so few actually saved. Maybe he was wanting to know what his odds were if he put off following. Maybe, as those with whom we work, he was wanting to know what type of faith fellowship/ community he would have if he left the religious community in which he grew up. Either way Jesus reminded the questioner that it was more important to concerned about his own spiritual condition than others. This can be difficult but is necessary.

Just as procrastinating to make a decision to follow Jesus can result in the perishing of the procrastinator, so too can the procrastination on the part of the true follower of Jesus result in the perishing of many who have never heard. People are literally dying daily without that personal relationship that they need to know Christ in order to enter heaven. If we are truly believing that Jesus is indeed "the Way, the Truth, and The Life," then we have to be sharing that fact.

So what does that have to do with the vision? It is to constantly agonize/ deeply desire to be more committed to Him and to sharing Him with others. Am I doing that really? I confess I am not and often grow complacent. Forgive me, Father, for my apathy.