We usually see what we are looking for. We tend to get focused on a single matter and fail to see all that is happening around us. Determined to purchase a special item in a store often makes us bypass items of even greater value. We see what we are focused on.
This is what happened in John chapter four when the disciples returned from purchasing food in a Samaritan village. They saw Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman, but their focus was on the food they had purchased. Jesus had seen the woman’s soul while the disciples were seeing food. Is it possible that we make the same mistake in our lives? Are we so focused on our own lives that we fail to deal with those things which really matter?
We need to see souls. This is what Jesus did. We deal with cash at the register in the stores, but fail to see the person behind the register. We speak to those around us about every topic except the one that focuses on their souls. We have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook, but rarely ever see their souls and never address what they really need to hear from us. Are we really their friends?
What about visitors to our services? We may see them and even realize we do not know them, yet never think about their souls. They come into our lives and provide great spiritual opportunities, yet we never see their souls. Imagine the impact on visitors if scores of individuals greeted them!
We must love souls. Until love—“agape love”—is manifested, others will never know that it exists. It was God’s love that prompted Him to give His Son. It was the Son’s love that caused Him to see the soul of the adulterous woman at the well in Samaria. Think again of visitors to our services. They will never see Palm Beach Lakes as a place where troubled souls are loved, until we show that love to them.
We must lead souls. Not every Christian is equipped to have a one-on-one study with a lost visitor, but there are actions all of us can take in leading visitors to the Lord. We all can speak to visitors. We all can sit with visitors. Welcome them to sit with you, or leave your “assigned” seat and go sit with them. We all can write visitors. The addresses from their registration cards are readily available at our Sunday night meetings. Take time to write to those you met and those you sat with to remind them who you are, where you met them and how glad you were they came. We all can pass visitors on to others. After you meet a visitor, introduce them to other members who can also welcome them. We all can tell others about visitors. Let others know who you met, what you learned of them, so further contacts can be made.
Let us all see souls. Let us all love souls and show it to them. Let us all lead souls in every way we can. Jesus did!