Your Daily Devotional for July 4, 2006

 

July 4, 2006

 

The Desire of a Soulwinner

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”

 

Romans 10:1

 

Though it would be impossible to know the Apostle Paul personally or to accompany him on one of his missionary journeys, to see his heart, we can simply read Romans 10:1: “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” The desire of Paul’s heart was to see the people of Israel, who had rejected Christ nationally, turn to Christ individually. His burden was so strong that he said, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:” (Romans 9:3). What was it about Paul’s desire that compelled him so strongly to win souls?

 

Notice that Paul’s desire was a compassionate desire. I think of the compassion of Jesus when He saw the multitudes. In Matthew 9:36, the Bible says, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Many times, when I am around large crowds of people, my natural tendency is to say, “Let’s get out of here!” and I consider moving to the upper regions of Alaska to get away from everyone. The love of Jesus Christ was certainly greater than that. When He looked out at the multitudes that had gathered, He saw beyond the faults, the problems, and the hassles of the people and looked into their hearts and saw their need for salvation. 

 

When there is compassion in our hearts, there will be a desire to see someone saved. When my wife Terrie and I started dating, I quickly became aware of her desire for her father to be saved. As she would share stories about her childhood or talk about her family, I could sense deep within her heart a burden for her dad. Many times at the dinner table she would say, “Let’s pray for my dad.” Other times, she would send him a Bible or a Gospel tract and invite him to church, but he always rejected. For many years he maintained an adamant position against God and the church and even refused to let his wife go to church or be baptized.

 

The time came for her father to have open heart surgery in San Francisco, California. I will never forget going into that room where Terrie’s father would have surgery and sharing with him, one last time, how he could be saved if he would accept Christ as his Saviour. When he prayed and asked Christ to save him, the one who rejoiced the most was my wife. Her compassionate heart created an intense desire for his salvation.

 

Paul’s desire was also a concise desire. He wasn’t praying that they would be recruited, reformed, or reorganized; he was praying that they would be saved. John R. Rice, the founder and editor of the Sword of the Lord newspaper, rarely met anyone without asking the simple question, “Are you saved?” Often times, we get distracted by so many other needs and concerns, but let’s not forget the main thing: are we leading souls to the Saviour?

 

How great is your burden for souls? Who is it for which you must grow in compassion? If your heart has grown cold and uncompassionate, then allow the Holy Spirit of God to soften and break your heart for souls today. If you have been distracted by an array of other needs and have forgotten the need for the lost to know Christ, ask the Lord to attune your heart to the need for salvation. Someone that you meet today could be a few short breaths away from eternity! You could decide where they spend eternity if you will only tell them of Christ.

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