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"A watchman for America"
None of us need be reminded of the tragedy that
our nation faced on September 11, 2001. It is seared into our minds with
the same fiery intensity that collapsed the twin towers in New York.
This message has burned in my heart since the day
America was set ablaze.
God reminded me of Ezekiel 3:17-21:
"Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman
to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them
from Me. When I say to the wicked, `You shall surely die'; and you do not
warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may
live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will
require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked, and he does not
turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. Again, when a righteous man
turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an
obstacle before him, he shall die; since you have not warned him, he shall
die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be
remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. However, if you
have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he
does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have
delivered yourself."
Several months ago, Standing4Him sent out a
mailing titled, "Are you a silent Watchman." In it, we discussed
how each one of us is called as a watchman for our particular part of the
world. Each person has people that they are set to help, and warn.
2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us that the "god of
this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving." We are called
to be watchmen over the blind. We are called to guard, protect, and warn
those who can not see the impending danger.
On September 11, 2001 over six thousand people
lost their lives. Did we warn them? Did we stand as watchmen, and shout
the warning that today their lives could be torn from them, and that they
would be thrust into eternity? Did we warn them that "Today is the
day of salvation," or did we simply pass them in the halls, and
remain silent?
Now, I know that most of you do not live in the
New York, or Washington areas. I also live away from those areas, but my
little part of the world has been impacted by this tragedy. I can not say
that I did not have an opportunity to minister to one of the people from
my region who died in this tragedy. I will not know until heaven.
We as Christians, need to realize that we have
been "Silent Watchmen" for too long, and repent for ourselves,
and as a nation. We have known that things were going to take place. We
were warned that "Perilous times will come," (2 Tim. 3:1) yet
many of us did not feel it was imminent. We did not feel that the danger
was so close, and we felt we had time to warn them later. Six thousand
people in one day were thrust into eternity. How many entered not knowing
Christ as the key to eternal life? How many would we have tried to warn if
we knew the day before?
How many people are you in contact with today? If
you knew that tomorrow the next terror attack would strike, and they would
be thrown into eternity, how many would you warn?
We need to realize that we are not guaranteed
tomorrow. Even more today than yesterday this rings true. We have been set
apart as watchmen. Set to warn those who are blind to the spiritual
implications of our daily lives.
There are three steps each one of us need to
take. First, we need to repent. We need to fall on our faces before the
Lord, and ask Him to forgive us for not being the watchmen He has
appointed us to be. We need to ask Him to forgive us, and cleanse the
blood of the innocent from our hands, but not our memory. Let this tragedy
be a daily reminder of the importance of sharing THE Answer to a world
looking for answers.
Secondly, we need to make the best use of our
time. We are still alive, and we must make every opportunity to reach out
to those around us who are hurting because of this tragedy. We need to
listen to their problems, nurse their torn emotions, and bind up their
spiritual wounds. Then once we have ministered to their needs, we can
introduce them to the Great Physician who can heal their broken hearts,
and replace their broken lives.
Don't go into a situation with the mindset that
you are going to "beat them over the head with the Bible until they
repent." They are already down. They are already bleeding
emotionally. Go to them. Stop the bleeding, nurse the wounds, and show
compassion to the blind.
Thirdly, each of us need to pray. We need to pray
for a spiritual revival in our church, in our city, and in our country. We
need to pray that people will draw close to God in this tragedy, and allow
Him to minister to our lives. We need to cast off the distractions of this
world, and seek the face of God with everything within us.
We also need to pray for our country and our
leaders. Pray that God would give wisdom to our leaders, and that God will
protect us in our time of need.
To help minister to those who are in need of
answers in this terrible time, we have posted a document titled
"Answers to the 'Hard Questions'" on our website. It answers
questions like:
"Why did God do this to America?"
"Could God have stopped this from happening?" "Why didn't
God stop this from happening?" and "Why did God allow this to
happen?"
You can view the answers to questions like these
on our website: http://www.standing4him.org.
Make every opportunity to reach the lost and help
them.
A fellow watchman in His service,
Ken Swett
Standing4Him
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