I have a friend.
I’ve known him for many years.
He is a Christian.
Some would say he is not. Do I have that right?
We talked about this particular sin many years ago.
His opinion is that God does not care about it.
So, he lives his life the way he lives it.
He doesn’t hurt anyone.
He is kind and fair and as good a person as he can be.
What is my responsibility as his friend?
What is my role?
What shall I say?
I have asked the Lord what to say.
What I received back is: Pray for him.
I do not do that as often as I should.
He is a distant friend. We live about 2 hours away from each other.
Sometimes years go by without in-person contact.
We text or call here and there.
He maintains his life and he does what he does.
I talked to him yesterday, so he is fresh in my mind.
His sin doesn’t bother me in a personal sense.
I am a watchman on the wall and I have been given a stark warning.
This is one of my posts in the Kingdom of God.
We all have a responsibility to warn others about Eternity
and what awaits those who refuse Christ.
This task I have known from a young age.
God expects me to warn the people when I see the sword coming.
That warning is found in Ezekiel in chapters 3 and 33:
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel:
therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from Me.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die;
and thou givest him not warning,
nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life;
the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness,
nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity;
but thou hast delivered thy soul. Ezekiel 3:17-19
AND
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land,
if the people of the land take a man of their coasts,
and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land,
he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning;
if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning;
his blood shall be upon him.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet,
and the people be not warned; if the sword come,
and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. Ezekiel 33:2-7
(see both chapters as there are more consequences and warnings)
There is also another way to look at it.
That is that Jesus did what He saw the Father do
and said what He heard the Father say.
I have not heard the Father say anything or seen Him do anything except for:
Pray for him.
I am not afraid.
Speaking the truth can sometimes cause people to want to stay away from you.
If the Holy Spirit hasn’t gone before me,
whatever I say is not going to be as fruitful.
Making excuses can be a human way to think of it.
While I am a Watchman, my warnings still need to be led by the Spirit.
He may or may not receive the warnings.
The prayer for him is not in vain.
Maybe I need to fast. I definitely need to pray more.
I have another friend who is not a Christian.
I dreamt she went to Hell and she said,
“You knew about this place and didn’t tell me? I thought I was your friend.”
I was able to tell her the dream.
She still refers that to that day as the day that I cared about her.
God did that as I was listening closely.
She is still not a Christian, but she knew I cared and meant well.
With this friend, I will keep praying and waiting
and be ready to act when the time is right,
when God opens the door and we can revisit that conversation
that got nowhere years ago.
I will try to be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit,
to remember to pray and whatever else He may show me to do.
Maybe I’ll show my friend this writing or maybe he’ll read it on his own.
God has His ways. We have ours.
If our ways are not linked with His ways,
we need to pray for that to be.
Scriptural References:
Then answered Jesus and said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth,
these also doeth the Son likewise.
John 5:19
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?
the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in Me, he doeth the works.
John 14:10
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25