The Tragedy of Doing Nothing Ron Hutchcraft

The Tragedy of Doing Nothing - #6222
Ron Hutchcraft
We love it when we hear those stories in the news about ordinary people who
come upon someone in danger and risk their own lives to save them. And then
there's the kind of story that came from Mount Everest. A British
mountaineer became desperate for oxygen on his descent from that peak that
is really
a legendary mountain. Ultimately, he collapsed along a well-traveled route
to the summit. He was dying. And more than forty climbers are thought to
have
seen him as he lay dying, and they passed him by. He died there of oxygen
deficiency. He did not have to die.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The
Tragedy of Doing Nothing."
The official cause of death was probably something like "oxygen deficiency."
But apparently there was another cause of that climber's death - human
indifference;
people too busy climbing their mountain to stop and help someone who was
dying.
Sadly, that happens more than we know. And the ones who are dying may be
people we see every day. Without the Bible, we'd never know the real
spiritual
condition of the folks that we know who don't belong to Jesus. But we have
the Bible, and it describes every person without Christ in words like these:
they are "lost," according to Luke 19:10; they are "without hope and without
God in this world," according to Ephesians 2:12. Some folks you see often,
are in God's words, "condemned," according to John 3:18. And they're called
in Proverbs 24, "those who are being led away to death."
My Bible tells me that neighbors and friends of mine who don't know Christ
will be "shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
There's
no way anyone can get into heaven with their sin unforgiven. And the only
One who can forgive them is the only One who died for those sins. So we have
dying people all around us. People whose eternal destination may hinge on
whether or not we stop for them to tell them what Jesus did for them on the
cross.
Just living a good life in front of them won't explain that. We'll have to
tell them.
Where are we in this disturbing story Jesus told in Luke 10:30-34, our word
for today from the Word of God? "A man...fell into the hands of robbers.
They
stripped him...beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest
happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed
by on
the other side." And then another religious leader came along and he "passed
by on the other side." "But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man
was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged
his wounds...he took him to an inn and took care of him." What troubles me
is
that it's the really religious folks who just keep walking by a man who
needs them - people like me, and probably like you.
So many times I've met people who have come to Christ late in life, and with
great regret that they did not know Him sooner. Often they'll say something
like, "I was 52 years old...I was 45 years old before I ever heard what
Jesus did for me." And it turns out, in retrospect, that they had known
several
folks along the way who were believers and who never told them about their
Jesus.
Look around your personal world: coworkers, family members, fellow students
or teammates, fellow club members, your friends, your neighbors. If you'll
let
Jesus show you what He sees, you'll see people who are slowly dying
spiritually; who are headed for an unthinkable eternity without Christ while
you're
enjoying the glories of heaven. Silence is unacceptable. Silence is wrong.
Join the Conversation
Don't talk to them about religion. Don't talk to them about church. Don't
talk to them about their lifestyle. Tell them about the Man who loved them
enough
to die in their place. God put you in their life to give them a chance at
Jesus. Please, don't keep walking by their need. You know Jesus. They need
your
Jesus. Don't let them down. Don't let Him down.

To find out how you can begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
please visit:
Yours for Life
or call 1-888-966-7325.
"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft is a daily radio challenge, with
slice-of-life illustrations and insights-providing practical help on the
issues that
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a radio outreach and production of
Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
© Ronald P. Hutchcraft . Distributed by Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.
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