Friday, April 1, 2022
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 6:7 KJV).
An evangelist conducted a survey at one of his meetings. About 4,500 people were in attendance. The polling data revealed 400 had become Christians before age 10, some 600 had become Christians between the ages of 16 and 20, but only 25 had become Christians after age 30. A staggering 1,875 were still unsaved!
Saints, if these figures are accurate, this is what we face in ministry. While there is always that extremely slim possibility a person will trust Jesus Christ as his or her personal Saviour in the final moments of this life (recall Luke 23:39-43), with advancing years comes increasing hardness toward spiritual truths. The old cliché “set in his or her ways” is definitely more applicable as one progresses in age. Whatever worldview was formed in the soul during its first 20 years will almost certainly remain for the rest of that earthly life. God, as Creator, knew this all too well. Therefore, He specifically wrote Bible verses with that fact in mind. For instance, see today’s Scripture, the LORD’S directions to Israelite parents who were to emphatically teach His words to their children. Or, that classic command, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
There is absolutely no guarantee all whom we reach with the Gospel will believe it. In fact, most will not believe it—ever. Whatever they do with God’s Word after we give it to them is their responsibility, not ours. If the children with whom we share the Gospel now eventually grow up to be the worst criminals in history, or if they or those adults we reach ultimately die and go to Hell being as lost as lost could be, at least we can say we did what we could to prevent it. Our conscience is clear. No blood is on our hands. We took advantage of the “evangelistic window”—it was they who did not.
Bible Q&As #939 and #940: “What does ‘bray’ mean in Job?” and “What does ‘descry’ mean?”
333 Words of Grace 