I woke up this morning from a
restless, disturbing dream with a splitting headache.
I tossed and turned for a few moments, as my mind
slowly made that transition to reality, but I couldn't get the dream out of my
head.
In my dream, I was in a large house, heated by a
woodstove. There were many people in the house with me and it was cold outside.
I opened the woodstove and put in some wood, but as I did, a spark flew out,
landing in a nearby electrical outlet and momentarily setting the carpet around
the outlet on fire.
In my dream, I closed the woodstove, and using my
foot, I extinguished the fire. Or so I thought.
The scene changed slightly then, and I now found
myself upstairs, staring at a fire smoldering in a corner of the hallway. Then I
was suddenly in the basement, witnessing a spot in the concrete that was red-hot
and smoldering.
Alarmed, I ran back upstairs to see that smoke was
coming from a nearby recliner, as well as from the wall behind the stove.
"Fire!" I screamed. "Call 911!"
Two of those upstairs appeared at the head of the
stairs.
"Call 911!" I screamed again. "We have to get everyone
out! The house is on fire!"
These two stared at the smoldering reclining chair,
then they looked at each other and shrugged. One reached for the phone, and both
of them made their way outside.
But where were the others?
Frustrated, I ran upstairs and began grabbing people
and pulling them towards the stairs. But only a few would come with me, and no
one seemed to sense the urgency of the situation!
"Out!" I shouted. "Out of the house!"
I then charged downstairs, but those in the basement
didn't respond any differently from those upstairs. Most refused to come, and
some, mere children, even claimed they didn't understand what I was trying to
tell them! They seemed to think that playing my piano was more important than
getting out of the house!
I picked them up and bodily carried them outside. But
where were the firefighters?
After about 10 minutes, two cars full of men in
uniforms pulled up. One got out and sauntered over to me. "There's a fire in the
house!" I cried.
"Show me!" He said. And he didn't try to hide the wink
he threw over his shoulder at his companions.
I took him into the house, but to my dismay, a young
girl tagged along with me. "Get back outside!" I cried, but she refused to
listen.
Once inside, the uniformed man stood with his back to
the smoldering chair and the cherry-red woodstove. "What's the story behind
those posts out there?" He asked, pointing out the picture window at a series of
6 or 7 tall posts that were cemented into the ground.
In my dream I started to cry. Why wouldn't anyone
listen? Didn't anyone care the house was on fire? And then I awoke. With a
splitting headache.
As I reviewed these scenes in my mind, I remembered my
prayer of the night before. Of late I am very frustrated that so many people
refuse to even consider the love of God. They spend all of their energies
searching for inconsistencies in the Christian message, providing "proof" that
God doesn't exist, or that He isn't a God of love.
My frustration had brought me to my knees before my
Lord and Maker in fervent prayer of intercession: "Oh, God! Open their blind
eyes! Help them to understand the urgency of the situation!"
The truth is, friends, our world is on fire! Oh, it's
only a smoldering flame at the moment, but it will soon burst into an
all-consuming inferno. But just as there was an easy way out of my house, Jesus
has provided us with a solution. It is as simple as running down the stairs and
out onto the front lawn! All we have to do is accept His gift of Salvation!
But we have become so jaded to the smoke that we have
lost track of the fact that fire will one day erupt and cleanse the earth! Most
don't even believe the fire exists, pretending they don't understand you when
you tell them!
What does Jesus say about these?
"Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and
have need of nothing' - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, and naked . . ." (Rev 3:17 NKJV)
Even fellow believers have become tired of the wait,
world-weary, and . . . Lukewarm!
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." (Rev 3:15-17 NKJV)
So what are we to do?
We do what I did in my dream! We continue to run
through life, shouting for people to wake up, taking them by the hand, and
attempting, even in the face of rejection, ridicule, and lukewarmness, to lead
them to Jesus. The responses we get are not our responsibility to worry about.
Like the sower in Jesus' parable, our job is simply to shout out the warning.
God is the one that will open the hearts to our shouts!
Interestingly, my headache is now completely gone . .
.
Lyn Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
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The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.