No Call Returned Void

What tugs at my heart when I hear the call
For sinners to come forward to be saved?
At the age of nine I gave Him my all,
Marshaled my courage and baptism braved!
I have filled the pew most Sundays since then,
Paid my tithe, and given offerings, too;
I have sought the Spirit's guidance within,
Been faithful to pray and search Scripture through!
O, that I had many lives to commit
To Him who rescued me from hell's torment;
Then would ev'ry call have response to it,
So He'd be glorified by much assent!
Would that no call return to Jesus void,
And He'd ne'er have reason to be annoyed!

Each of us has only one soul. Once we choose to follow Jesus, begin revamping our lives, and changing attitudes and actions, our love for Him becomes so great, that it hurts us to see Him hurt. His terrible suffering during His final hours was voluntary, and for us; it becomes grievous to us; so does the "don't care" attitudes of family and friends who don't know Him or seem to want to, despite our prayers and ventures to talk with them about their salvation. Especially hurtful: When we succeed in having them attend church with us, and the pastor asks for those who "feel the call" to come forward for counseling and perhaps to respond favorably, they do not respond; no one does, and the service ends without a single inquirer. When that happens, as it often does, I feel terrible pain for my Lord, wishing I could go forward again and again! If only I could assuage the pain of Jesus Christ; but what real good would it do? One soul can only be saved once, no matter how many walks down the aisle it makes! As for lost friends, we can only keep praying, talking with them when appropriate, so as not to cause "walls" of resistance to erect themselves; most of all, we must continue to live before them in such a way as to incur their envy, their desire, to be happy like us. The way a Christian lives should present to others a model which inspires emulation; not many succeed, even if all try.

We are not ascribed guilt by God when our efforts to win friends to Jesus fail, unless we give up and quit trying to win them. Above all, we must not blend in with their lifestyles, participating in their worldly sins in order to win their trust and friendship. When we do that, it is Satan who has succeeded in winning a convert, rather than Christ! Jesus associated with publicly-known sinners in His ministry, going into their homes and talking with them about their eternal destinies. In fact, He was roundly criticized for it and asked why He did such forbidden things. He answered that He did not come into the world to heal or seek the already righteous, but to seek and to save the sick and lost of the world.