By Steve Gaines
Matthew 22:9-10 – “‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”
We are all to invite all men to Christ.
All Christians are commanded by Christ to invite all non-Christians to become Christians. Whether they are “good” or “bad” is not an issue, for we are all lumped within that less than admirable category called “sinners.” All people have broken God’s laws and fallen short of the glory of God. And the text says that we are to go to them instead of expecting them to come to us.
We are to be proactive in our evangelism.
We are to join Deacon Philip and go to the road upon which the eunuch is traveling. We are to approach the eunuch and open our mouths using Scripture to proclaim Jesus Christ to the lost.
We are to bring precious souls to Jesus.
We are to lift Jesus up before them in such a way that will cause them to desire Him for themselves. We are to invite them to receive Jesus. Jesus is all we have to offer them, and Jesus is all they will ever need. As we go out into the streets and gather God’s harvest of souls, we can do so knowing that one day we will rejoice with our Savior at His banquet table.
O that we might be able one day to say with Paul, “I do all things for the sake of the Gospel.”
May God grant that we might come to see the value of one eternal soul.
What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits and loses his soul? Or what will a man, a woman, a boy, or a girl, give in exchange for his/her soul?
“LORD, transform me into a soul winner. Help me to go out into the highways and hedges and compel people, the good and the bad, to come to Jesus!”
Steve Gaines is president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn.
