Ablaze for God - Day 12 Devotional

“Ablaze with a Passion for People”
Submitted by Eunice LaCoy
Key text: Luke 14:21,23

“You have not drunk deeply of Christ if you do not share His tears over the unsaved who are blindly hastening to an eternity forever separated from the love of God”.

As I read these words, I cannot but think of my father – he is the very embodiment of “passion for people’s souls”. He is by profession a doctor, but the true passion of his life is for people’s eternal salvation. Every person he ever spends any time with, the people he meets at the YMCA, all of his large extended family, the UPS man, the bug exterminator, the clerk at the hardware store, his seatmate on every plane trip - everyone he gets a chance to talk to, knows that he cares deeply about the state of their soul. He wants everyone to know the love of Jesus. He wants them to experience a relationship with God. He never pretends to be perfect, but he is so appreciative of the mercy and forgiveness of God in his own life, that he wants everyone else to know it also. He wants them to know the delight of the hope of eternal life. He goes to yard sales, and flea markets, and buys Bibles to give to the people he talks with. He gives so much of his income to mission work that he was audited three times by the IRS – they couldn’t believe anyone would give so much of their earthly goods to the work of the church. His dream was always to spend his retirement in mission work, but his health won’t allow that.

My own life was touched with this passion in many ways, but one time in particular stands out. I will never forget the day when my own soul was engaged in the battle of surrendering to Christ, and he knelt beside me, with tears streaming down his face, as he begged me to open my heart to God’s love, forgiveness, and the wonder of a relationship with Him…

Heavenly Father, give to me this passion for people in my own life. Please use me in each person’s life that I come in contact with…. Might every moment of my life bring others close to You…

Further reading: Matthew 28: 19-20