I remember as a young missionary the words of another missionary in New Zealand. We were discussing how to better find individuals to teach and how to lead them to Christ. It was hard to find those interested in the Bible in New Zealand as we tried to do our work. He then said something I will never forget. “Dan, are you still seeing souls?”
The world is lost and every person you meet is a soul, but sometimes we fail to see those souls. Christ died for the lost, and our responsibility is to take the gospel to the lost. There is a vast difference between seeing people and seeing souls.
Unlike us, Jesus always saw souls. The classic illustration is Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. She was amazed that a Jew would even speak to her. She asked Jesus why he would even ask her to give him a drink from the well. Her reason? “The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans“ (John 4:9).
Jesus was so different from the rabbis of His day. One description of them is found in Robertson’s Daily Bible Study. He says, “A rabbi might not even speak to his own wife or daughter in public. There were even Pharisees who were called ‘the bruised and bleeding Pharisees’ because they shut their eyes when they saw a woman on the street and so walked into walls and houses!” Jesus was not like them. His apostles were so amazed that Jesus was talking to a woman of Samaria but did not ask Him about His actions (John 4:29).
Jesus saw souls, and He saw the soul of the woman of Samaria. The apostles saw her leave to return to the city, not knowing what she did when she came into the city. She told those there to come to the well suggesting that she had found the Messiah. The text then described how those in the city believed her and were coming to the well to investigate for themselves.
Do you know what Jesus said to the apostles as all of this was happening? “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest” (John 4:35). The apostles could have seen those coming from the city, and all they saw were Samaritans, a people with whom the apostles had no dealings. Do you know what Jesus saw? He saw souls! When they arrived at the city, they too found the treasures of Jesus. He saw the souls and spent two full days teaching them.
What about us? Do we see the souls of rude servers in a restaurant? Do we see the souls of those around us as we wait in a doctor’s office? Do we see the souls, or do we only think of how bad we are being treated?
The next time it happens, “Life up your eyes to the harvest.” It will change how you deal with others.