“My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.” James 5:19-20 NLT
There is that someone
That person whose flame flickered and dimmed, and seems to have simply gone awol. The murmurs somehow never seem to include the root of the the dimming, just observations on the person’s character and lack of faith.
Whether that is justified or not, we realize that God’s Spirit is calling us to a different way. To be salt and light to the hurting, the lonely, the angry, the disappointed, the dis-eased. Like we once were. (Or maybe still are!)
Siblings, we can’t afford to get distracted and sidetracked by stuff. There are lives that need to be reminded of the wonder of God’s love. Moreover we might be particularly called to be God’s agent for a person’s re-transformation, restoration and hope in this season.
We begin with praying for the person, asking God’s intervention in the person’s spirit. We also ask God to remove any sliver of judgemental attitude that may try to creep in and detract from God’s mission for us. Inviting God’s Spirit to speak to our hearts and minds about the way forward, what to do, how to respond to the hurt, the loneliness, the anger, the disappointment, the dis-ease that resulted in the falling away. Remind ourselves that our Good Shepherd left 99 for our rescue, so we ought to partner with our Shepherd for the restoration of the person’s soul. It is the least we can do in thanks.
Are we up to the task? Will we yield to God’s Spirit to partner with God for this special work? Let’s do this!