A Burden for the Lost

By Greg Laurie, Op-ed contributor Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. —Acts 8:5

Philip was a man God used to bring others to himself. But why was he so powerfully used by God? What was his secret?

Philip had a burden for lost people. This was evidenced by the fact that he went to Samaria and preached Christ. That may not mean a lot to us, but it meant a lot to the Samaritans. You see, the Jews and the Samaritans were not very friendly. There was a rift between them that had passed from generation to generation. Jews had no contact with Samaritans for the most part. Yet Philip, a Jew, went to Samaria and preached the gospel.

When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them, Jonah went in the opposite direction. Do you know why that was? Jonah hated the Ninevites, who were known for their cruelty and savagery. The Jews and the Ninevites had fought with each other on many occasions.

So when God told Jonah to go to his mortal enemies, Jonah basically said, "No way. I know You. I know the way that You are. You always forgive people. If I go to preach to them, they are going to repent. You will forgive them, and I don't want them to be forgiven. I want them to be judged."

But Philip was willing to go. He went out of his comfort zone and proclaimed the Good News to the Samaritans. As a result, "there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8).

Are you willing to go out of your comfort zone? Do you have a burden for lost people? Without this burden, everything else is irrelevant. And with it, God can use you mightily.

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