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Touring the Gates of Hell
by Gary Davidman It's April 1945. No human eyes should ever be forced to see the sights you're being forced to observe. You're a citizen of Gotha, Germany. The hated Allies have just captured your town, and are rapidly advancing toward Berlin to overthrow your government and take over your country. For years you've believed the war propaganda put out by your leaders, but now reality has set in. The Allies are now in charge, and are about to uncover for you the ghastly reality that your own government tried so hard to conceal. You are about to embark on a five-mile Allied-ordered march, to the nearby concentration camp. You are about to be taken on a guided tour that will change your life forever. Immediately as you enter the camp, an overpowering stench greets your nostrils. Then you are led to the scenes: the barracksthe crematoriathe woefully emaciated, half-dead bodiesthe piles of corpses waiting to be burned. Amidst the convulsive shock going through your whole being as you view this scene from hell, this one thought pounds away at you: You knew something was wrong, but you never did or said anything. You didn't want to get involved. Words fail you. Your mind goes numb. You can only stand there stunned, ashamed, and horrified beyond anything you can think or say. Fast-forward to todayspecifically, to your home, your office, your neighborhood. If you could see in the spirit world, what would you see? There's a good chance that the scene you'd be looking at would be as ghoulish as the scenes forced upon the citizens of Nazi Germany at the behest of the conquering Allies. By God's mercy we don't see even a fraction of what goes on "behind the scenes" in the spirit world. But rest assured that if we did, it would change our lives forever. We'd be able to see, in full living color, the chains that torture and oppress every person who is not submitted to the Messiah. The scenes would leave us stunned beyond words. Do we care enough to get involved? Or do we prefer to be like the citizens of Nazi Germanyinoculating ourselves from reality through our over-arching (and false) need for self-preservation? If you dare to get involved in rescuing a lost and dying world, take heart! You don't have to save everyone. In fact, you don't have to save ANYONE. Indeed, you can't! What you can (and must) do is to surrender yourself afresh to the Holy Spirit and obey His voice as you operate in your surroundings. You may not have to stand on a street corner and preach. You will likely be asked to serve people with the gifts He has placed within you. But please, don't inoculate yourself with mountains of Bible studies and church activities that leave you well-fed and well-dressed while those around are literally starving to an eternal death. Don't let it be said of you what was said of the citizens of the Third Reich--namely, that you didn't care enough to get involved. I am a Jewish believer in Jesus who has a passion to write and teach on: the Hebraic roots of the faith; the persecuted church; living our our lives as radical disciples. My wife and I live in Nashville, TN, and am involved locally with a Messianic congregation as well as in citywide prayer. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |