Rescue The Perishing

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/2cmbj4

Real people have real problems. Not everyone has the advantage of someone helping them survive and grow on a daily basis. In fact, a growing number of people are discovering they are very alone when it comes to spiritual matters. They are drowning in a sea of sin and they cannot find the shore of safety. What will become of those who are carelessly tossed into sin without hope of finding salvation?

For many years a small, blind lady made her way to visit one of the local missions in New York. When I say small, I mean small. She was less than five feet tall and weighed less than 100 pounds. One probably wouldn’t be very impressed with her stature, but almost everyone knows her by her songs. She was Fanny Crosby.

Listen to her story about one such visit to the mission.

“I was addressing a large company of working men one hot summer evening, when the thought kept forcing itself on my mind that some mother’s boy must be rescued that night or not at all. I made a pressing plea that if there were a boy present who had wandered from his mother’s home and teaching, he would come to me at the close of the service. A young man of eighteen came forward and said, “Did you mean me? I promised my mother to meet her in heaven, but as I am now living, that would be impossible.”

A few days before, William H. Doane had given Fanny a suggested topic on “Rescue The Perishing,” and that became the focus of her evening. Listen to the first verse and chorus of that song.

Rescue the perishing,

Care for the dying,

Snatch them in pity

From sin and the grave;

Weep o’er the erring one,

Lift up the fallen,

Tell them of Jesus

The Mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing,

Care for the dying,

Jesus is merciful,

Jesus will save.

That young boy realized that the road he was currently traveling was not taking him to heaven. Many people don’t realize that until much later in life. But it was the thought of meeting his mother in heaven that helped him to consider his direction and desire a change.

Jesus gave instructions in Matthew 28:19-20 when He said,

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

That becomes a tremendous responsibility placed upon each of us today. Someone is sinking in a sea of sin and needs to be rescued. The Lord will provide the strength we need as we take on our duty to rescue others from sin. God loved us enough to send Jesus to die in our place. Can’t we show our love for others to tell them that a price has been paid for their redemption?

On Our Daily Walk today, may we try this week to look at others not by the car they drive or the clothes they wear. Rather let us look upon others as those who are on the road to heaven and those who are still in the sea of sin. May that realization cause us to share the gospel of salvation with others.

Our thought for the day: “You cannot repent too soon because you don’t know how soon it may be too late.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.