God Has Called Us. It's Time to Go.

Each day I am on my job, I check countless people in and out of rooms and talk to even more on the phone as they make reservations or ask questions. Each time I step into a store I am greeted by people going up and down the aisles as they check off items on their shopping lists or are there just to browse. I leave saying goodbye to a cashier whose name I never know even though they bear it on their name tag. As I drive home I pass car after car driven by those who have places to go and then as I pull into my neighborhood I pass houses that are called homes by those who live in them. So many people, yet who are they? What are their stories? What is their purpose in life, their goals, their dreams, and their hopes? Do they know that there is a God who loves them? Who gave His life so that they might live? Do they know about the promise that He has for them? Are they saved?

There are so many people in the world that we deal with daily even if it is just for a brief moment. Yet we never take the time to stop and think about who they are and how much our God loves them. We become so focused on our needs, our desires, our problems and our wants as if the world really does revolve around us. Yet we stand proudly and proclaim as it says in Romans, "for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." How quickly is it for us to forget the verses that follow after; "how then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" We are commanded by God to go into all the world and preach the gospel. In the end we know that when we lean on God and trust in Him that He will bring us through. But do we know what will happen to the ones around us if we do not reach out? Do we know where they will end up if we don't take the time to tell them about God's love?

I had the opportunity the attend General Conference and was able to go to the most awesome, inspiring and eye opening services. For the first time I realized how many people need to be reached. There are so many ministries that have been started and need to be started. Ministries for men, women, teens and children. For the multi cultures living in our country, the Spanish, Asian and African American just to name a few. For the deaf, blind, and handicapped. For the abused, neglected and used. For those in jails, orphanages and on the streets. For the rich and the poor. For the sick and the well. For those held back by language barriers and those who are multilingual. It is overwhelming when you think about it. There is a song that the Sunday school kids sing that starts by saying; “I want to be a missionary, taking the gospel into my world.” We all have our own world so to speak which includes our family, friends, job, school and neighborhoods. To reach the lost we don't need to go to another country, state, town, city, or even another community or neighborhood. All it takes to reach the lost is for us to walk out our front door. If we all reach our world together we can reach the world. God has called us. It's time to go.

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and into the uttermost part of the earth."
Acts 1:8