This is the second in a series of three blogs on preparing for mission.

Heart

Now that we have it in our head that mission is something we must do, we want to move on to our heart. It isn’t enough that we just do mission because we are told to and we know it is the right thing to do. It must also be something we do because we want to.

When we have good news to share, whether it is that we have passed an exam, or we are going on a holiday or we are getting married, we want everyone to know. We don’t tell them the news because we have to, but because there is an excitement about it and we long for people to hear.

That should be the same with the Gospel. This is the best news that anyone could hear—that God has made a way for us to be in a relationship with Him. Should we not have a real passion for the Gospel? This is the news that we should want to share with everyone around us. This is the news that has saved us, and that can save others. Do you have a real love for the Gospel? Do you see it as the best news there is?

Not only should we have a love for the Gospel, we must also have a love for the Lord. When we do something for someone as a response to our love for them, we do it in a completely different way, than if we are just doing it out of duty. If our friends or our family ask us to do a task, we will do it out of love for them. But if a stranger asked us to do the same thing, either we wouldn’t do it, or we may do it grudgingly. If we have a real love for the Lord, we will serve Him and obey Him joyfully. After Jesus rose from the dead, and met Peter by the lake, He asked him “Do you love me?” When Peter answered in the affirmative, Jesus commanded him to ‘Feed [his] lambs’ (John 21:15-17). By loving God, we will want to go and tell others about Him.

Finally, we must also have a love for the lost. As Jesus ‘saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ (Matthew 9:36, ESV). As we see the lost around us, are we moved with compassion for them? Do we realise their helplessness and how they will face a lost eternity without Jesus?

What is your heart full of love for? The Gospel? The Lord? The lost? Why not use the words of this song to pray that God would fill you with His compassion.

Filled with compassion for all creation,
Jesus came into a world that was lost.
There was but one way that He could save us,
Only through suffering death on a cross.

God, You are waiting, Your heart is breaking 
For all the people who live on the earth. 
Stir us to action, filled with Your passion 
For all the people who live on the earth. 

Great is Your passion for all the people
Living and dying without knowing You.
Having no Saviour, they’re lost forever
If we don’t speak out and lead them to You.

From every nation we shall be gathered,
Millions redeemed shall be Jesus’ reward.
Then He will turn and say to His Father:
“Truly my suffering was worth it all!”

(Noel Richards)