What If I Had Never Been Born?

Today is my 34th birthday.  While I know that's still relatively young, I can honestly say I don't feel quite as young as I did 5 or 10 years ago.  Many of my older friends tell me that it will only get worse.  Gee thanks - just what I wanted to hear.

I think birthdays are kind of like milestones in our lives.  They cause us to pause and reflect on where we've been, where we are, and where we're going.  Today I stopped and asked myself this question:  What things would be different if I were never born?  Specifically, I wonder how many people would still be headed for hell if I had never been born.  While I'm ashamed to admit it, the answer is not near enough.

I led my first person to faith in Christ when I was about 15 years old.  I'll never forget it - I was on a youth Evangelism Explosion visit with Gary Boyd and Amy Shoemaker (now Garland).  Gary told me that it was my turn to share the Gospel.  We went to a nice home in Sequoyah Hills in Knoxville, TN. A teenage girl answered the door and we introduced ourselves and began to ask her about her church background.  Then we came to the two big questions we were trained to ask:  "If you were to die tonight, do you know that you would go to heaven?  If God asked you why you should be allowed into heaven, what would you say?"

While I can't remember exactly how the young lady answered that question, I remember that she indicated some doubts about her relationship with Jesus.  God allowed me the privilege of sharing the Gospel with her.  I can vividly remember being scared and trying to remember everything I wanted to say.  I'm sure it was probably one of the more lackluster Gospel presentations that's ever been given, but God used it to save the soul of that teenager.  I praise God that He allowed me, Gary, and Amy to be a part of that experience.

But as I look back over these 34 years, for every one time I faithfully shared the Gospel with someone, there were probably at least 10 or 20 other opportunities that I squandered.  Those opportunities were missed either because I had a fear of failure or rejection.  While I praise God that he has used me to see a good number of souls added to His Kingdom, I'm ashamed that many others remain separated from His grace simply because I was unwilling to share.  Too many people are still on the road to hell, and unless I do something about it their blood will be required at my hands (Ezekiel 33:8).

Perhaps you share some of my concerns.  Whose life is radically different because you and I were born?  We can live in nice homes, drive nice cars, make large salaries, and belong to fancy clubs, but that will probably do very little to change someone's life - much less their eternity.  I hope the burden of Jesus will become ours as well:  "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work" (John 9:4).  When the night comes, I hope we'll all be found leading the lost to a saving knowledge of Christ.