Never Give Up On A Lost Soul

We must not give up on anyone that is still breathing. God has saved many individuals that I had given up on. Have you known individuals that you felt were so far gone that God could not possibly save them but He saved them anyway? I have been greatly surprised at the salvation of many individuals like that. I did not understand the greatness of God*s love for them. Are there individuals that you can think of right now that are so hard-nosed that you don*t believe God can save them? We need to change our attitude and pray for them and witness to them. Doubting that God can save certain individuals is a horrible underestimation of His love and power. He can save anyone. The salvation of a soul is always a miracle, but sometimes it seems to us more like a miracle than others. We see some as greater sinners than others. We see the salvation of some individuals as more unlikely, but to God we are all alike. To Him we are all sinners, from the charming to the cruel, from criminals to hypocrites and from those whose sins are public to those whose sins are secret.

I thought that one of the most profane men I have ever known was doomed. But the Lord arranged for us to have a lunch break with none of his profane friends present. As I shared scripture with him, he opened his heart to the Lord Jesus. The Lord took away his profanity. On one occasion a few weeks later we were discussing an unjust supervisor. He said: That God d . . . He couldn*t get the word out. Before he would have cursed a blue streak at that supervisor but now he couldn*t do it.

I have been told that the last sense that people lose is often their hearing. I met a lady in a nursing home who had had a stroke. She could not speak. She could only blink her eyes. Once for yes and twice for no. When she was nervous or excited her eyes would flutter rapidly. I shared the gospel with her and I quoted this verse:

I told her that she could pray in her mind and receive Jesus and He would hear. According to her blinking I hoped that she had received Jesus. But the blinking was not always consistent. I wanted to be more certain that she was saved. The Lord gave me what I wanted. I had the opportunity to visit her a few times before she went home to be with the Lord. Each time I visited her, for the first minute or two or three she seemed to be in lala land. It took time and great effort to arrange her lips into a smile. After she got that done I had her full attention. I have never known anyone who had to work so hard to smile. She wanted to show her appreciation for my sharing the gospel with her. The smile was all she could do. It was enough for me.

I knew another man that I thought had put himself out of God*s reach. But he had only put himself out of my reach. His daughter came to Christ and witnessed to him. He probably loved that daughter more than anyone on earth. I don*t believe that he would have opened his heart to the Lord through the witness of anyone but that daughter. After she told him about her salvation he wanted to hear the gospel too and he also received Jesus.

I once attempted to share the gospel with a man who loudly and angrily shouted me down. I thought he was hopeless. A few months later he was willing to hear the gospel and received Christ. I have no idea how the Lord accomplished that.

There were many Christians that witnessed to me before I became saved and I believe that many of them gave up on me. I wanted them to give up on me. They probably thought I was too far gone. But I am thankful that some of them did not. They continued to pray for me and show me love. And God was patient and gracious to me.

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