Luke 14:23New King James Version (NKJV)
23 Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
MEANINGS FOR COMPEL:
STRONGS: constrain, whether by force, etc...by persuasion, entreaties, etc...or by other means.
DICTIONARY: to secure or bring about by force, to overpower, subdue
The picture shown below on Facebook spoke to my heart. Here is the description accompanying the photo:
A man wanting to jump off a bridge in London, talked round by absolute strangers who proceeded to hold him for an hour until help arrived to get him down safely. Look at that grip. Look at the care, compassion, selflessness & determination shown by complete strangers to a fellow human being.
Take a good look at the constraints put on the man who desired to jump from the bridge!! Strangers compelling a man ... in order to save his life.
Take a good look at the constraints put on the man who desired to jump from the bridge!! Strangers compelling a man ... in order to save his life.
This is a SOBERING challenge to us.
Go out ... for there are more people who need to know Jesus Christ as their Savior!
Go out ... for some are in a desperate condition
Go out ... for the Lord commands us to do so
Go out ... also to areas and people who might be considered undesirable
Go out ... without judging or adding prerequisites
Go out ... lest people perish
Go out ... even if it costs you something
Go out ... with a determination to bring them in to the Kingdom
Go out .. Just Go!
The lost are not always sitting on your pews each Sunday. They won't come to you. Obviously they don't flock to our churches, or we would not have so many empty pews!
Compelling is different than cooking for fellowship dinners ... or singing in the choir. Compelling requires compassion and the same determination displayed by the strangers in the photo to the desperate man ... look at it once more. What do you see? Hands holding on to the man, ropes securing his position lest he succumb to that which would cost him his life. There is also UNITY of the people. With one mind and one accord they compelled this man - so that - he could live another day!
In Luke 14:23 Jesus used a parable regarding a great supper to illustrate the eternal truths of salvation. In this parable, He emphasized our responsibility in reaching the unsaved. We must be willing to go into the highways and hedges of life, compelling them to come.
Count me in. I still have a burning desire to reach the lost, to tell them the old, old story of Jesus and His love!
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