Saved For God's Sake

Some people are really into saving stuff.  They cannot bear the thought of throwing away items they or someone else could possibly use someday.  I have seen people go into the bin to stuff they believed had value just to store it and collect dust.  It did cost money at one stage, so people hold onto it.  In the trash of others some see dollar signs, and others have dreams of restoring dilapidated furniture or making artwork that never seems to happen because they are in the business of acquiring--not giving things away.  I remember walking into a storeroom and seeing hundreds of dusty old plastic chairs stacked to the ceiling.  No one had sat on those chairs for a very long time, and there was a reason they had been replaced.  Why they had been saved without a practical purpose was the question burning in my mind.

Christians are people who are no strangers to saving.  We have been saved from sin, death and hell by faith in Jesus Christ, and we desire others would be saved too.  The Bible teaches us this is good and aligns with the will of the Father in the context for praying for all people in 1 Timothy 2:3-4:  "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  Like people who save items they value from landfills, so we are to be those who reach out to save people from eternal destruction by sharing the Gospel--pulling them out of the fire as it written in Jude 23.  It is common for people to express great concern to me about unsaved loved ones and how they worry they will face God's wrath poured out on the world during the Great Tribulation.

All this focus on saving from wrath, sin and death is warranted, yet it is only one side of the story--and the less important part.  God's desire is to save us from death and hell, but He desires to save us for His glorious purposes, so we can share a relationship with the living God today.  God is not like a hoarder who loads a truck to save potentially valuable or useful stuff from ending up at the tip and packs his garage and house full.  He is not content to gather up souls off the scrap heap to save us from hell and then stuff us into an empty space in the closet or attic without further interactions.  He gives us a seat at His table for fellowship; He spends time speaking with us and listens to our concerns.  God gives us spiritual gifts with the filling of the Holy Spirit and makes us stewards of His kingdom.  He adopts us, not to keep us from going into a home for orphans, but because He has chosen us as His beloved children to dwell in us and we in Him by faith.  God has saved us to do good works He has ordained for us to do (Eph. 2:8-10).

Are you more concerned about people being saved from hell forever or that they be saved for a relationship with God today?  For as much as we care about people, shouldn't we love God enough to want people saved for His sake--since that is why He sent His Son Jesus to die and atone for sinners?  We want to see people saved when God wants people saved for His good and glorious purposes that include them.  He desires a personal relationship with us where He puts in all the work to reach out, to speak, listen, never forgets us, delights to do things together and remains faithful forever--and that we would freely love Him and others as He loves us.