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Perhaps if (or when) we realize just how great the retribution will be for our negligence, we will also come to realize just how great God’s salvation through faith in His Son, truly is!
Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He is out of his mind." --Mark 3:20-21 (ESV)
On this section of scripture, J.R. Miller (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._Miller) comments:
They could account for His unconquerable zeal only by concluding that He was insane. We hear much of the same kind of talk in modern days when some devoted follower of Christ utterly forgets self in love for his Master. People say, "He must be insane!" They think every man is crazy whose religion kindles into any sort of unusual fervor, or who grows more earnest than the average Christian in work for the Master.
That is a good sort of insanity. It is a sad pity that it is so rare. If there were more of it there would not be so many unsaved souls dying under the very shadow of our churches; it would not be so hard to get missionaries and money to send the gospel to the dark continents; there would not be so many empty pews in our churches; so many long pauses in our prayer-meetings; so few to teach in our Sunday schools. It would be a glorious thing if all Christians were beside themselves as the Master was, or as Paul was. It is a far worse insanity which in this world never gives a thought to any other world; which, moving continually among lost men, never pities them, nor thinks of their lost condition, nor puts forth any effort to save them. It is easier to keep a cool head and a colder heart and to give ourselves no concern about perishing souls; but we are our brothers' keepers, and no malfeasance in duty can be worse than that which pays no heed to their eternal salvation. |
How sad but true is this observation of the "common" Christian today. Negligence is the common denominator.
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Negligence of humility toward others – be they of "our flock" or not – but most especially if not! |
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Negligence in seeking to be Christ-like in ALL we say, think and do. |
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We are negligent in our prayers as we pray for our needs to be advanced, rather than that of advancing the kingdom of God. |
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We are negligent in our own community when we fail to love our neighbor as our self and fail to meet one another’s needs with grace and love. |
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We neglect to be salt and light when we focus our attention on the ills of society and instead of humble living by example, we forget that we too were once sinners and so we sign petitions and attend rallies condemning others for the immoral way they live and/or conduct business. |
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We are negligent at work and in public when we treat others with contempt for their actions instead of forgiving them and praying for them. |
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We are negligent toward our own "walk of faith" when we spend more time, energy and money on our own "pursuits of pleasure" than we do seeking to meet the needs of the poor and impoverished. |
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We are negligent when, in view of God’s mercy, we fail to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—as our spiritual act of worship. |
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And we are most negligent when we deny that such is - in all actuality - the true nature of our heart. |
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