Life from the dead!

Twenty years ago I faced a personal catastrophic event. My 65-year-old Jewish mother suddenly died from a massive heart attack. She was not a believer in Jesus. The shock of the news choked me because I had no assurance of my mother’s salvation.

A powerful feeling of fear and anxiety overcame me as I imagined my mother lost in the loneliness of outer darkness, separated from God. Those thoughts haunted me for the weeks and months that followed.

I had prayed daily to God for nearly 25 years, pleading that he would show my mother the same truth he had shown me about Jesus as the promised Messiah. I had held onto so many Bible verses, believing that God would save my mother – but when the day of her passing came – I was left in agony without a sure and certain hope for her.

As the following year passed, the Lord helped me process my loss. I am committed to preaching the gospel to the living, and called to concern myself with the salvation of those who are still alive; however, the Lord taught me to leave those departed to Him.

Through this experience the Lord taught me the value of focus. Time and energy are limited resources. They are precious gifts that God has given us to use at our discretion. But how wisely do we use them? When my mother passed, I realised that so much more could have been said and done by the many Christians she knew, and by me, to ensure she had the opportunity to hear the gospel. If only we had more focus, sharing more of God’s love and truth with her and not squandering so much time and energy. But it was too late.

Concerning Jewish people, focus is important. Especially in these challenging times with such great conflict occurring in the Middle East. There are lots of things we Christians are talking about, especially around being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine. But as important as politics can be, the command of Jesus to make disciples of all people, including his Jewish people, is not an option for us as believers. Jewish evangelism is not a subject that should take second or last place. God’s word calls it a priority for the church.

My mother’s death taught me the urgent need to limit talk that does not produce the fruit of eternal life. So does the loss of so many thousands of lives in the Middle East – both Jewish and Palestinian. If we really want to see Jewish people acting in wise and sanctified ways, we need to empower them with the gift of sanctification that comes only through faith in the Saviour.

Jewish people need Jesus too – not only to secure an eternal future with God, but to know God now and have the power to live and act in His way. Jewish people can bring God’s peace and create lasting solutions to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East if we help them to know the Lord and live out of His life and wisdom. After all, how can the people created to share His light to the nations do so if they have not yet received it?

The only hope for peace in the Middle East was born in the Middle East and we Christians are the only ones who can bring Jesus to both Jewish and Arab peoples. Right now, less than 1% of Jewish people believe in Jesus, making them an unreached people group in desperate need of salvation. So please pray and make yourself aware of those doing evangelism among Jewish people and support them.

As evangelicals, we have been enabled by God to bring His light back to the Jewish people who first gave it to us. Let’s act in faith and obedience believing what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11:15 as true: ‘For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?’