I didn’t need foreknowledge to know it was going to end badly. Not far from where I was, a motorcyclist lost control and slipped on some soft gravel, sending him and his bike onto the unforgiving asphalt. Time stood still as I saw him plummet, but there was no time to waste in helping him. I immediately pulled over and darted into action to potentially save his life. As soon as I lifted him up, another friendly neighbor ran from his truck to assist. We managed to get his bike standing upright, and aside from a few scrapes and bruises on the man and his Harley, he was thankfully alright.

But I wasn’t. I drove away convicted in the depths of my soul. An unsettling question kept racing through my mind: “I dropped everything I was doing to save a man from physical danger, but do I do the same for those in grave spiritual danger?” I couldn’t help but wonder, “Do I have the same sense of urgency for the souls around me who are driving down the wide road that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14)? Have I done all I can do to get them off of that road and onto the one that leads to everlasting life?” I am glad I helped the man, but I often fail to feel the same concern for those who need the most help—the lost and the unsaved.

Perhaps you can identify with my God-wrought exposure of guilt. Think about it: how zealously are we preaching the gospel to those who are headed to hell in a handbasket? Are we alarmed in our souls for those whose souls may be seconds away from eternal damnation? When was the last time we prayed with tear-soaked eyes for God to save our unbelieving coworkers, family members, and friends? Can we relate to Paul’s yearning for the salvation of his family when he said, “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Rom. 10:9)?

And what produces this much-needed zeal and urgency? It’s simple: understanding the dire spiritual condition of the unsaved and their eternal danger. The motorcyclist’s dangerous predicament drove me to action—I didn’t want to see him suffer or possibly die. Likewise, understanding the spiritual peril of unbelievers and their desperate need of salvation will ignite in us the “heartburn” required for zealous preaching of the gospel. Unbelievers are lost, dead, enslaved, and in everlasting danger (Isaiah 53:6; Eph. 2:1-3; John 8:34; Matt. 25:41-46; Rev. 20:15), and we need not forget it. 

Jesus didn’t forget either. He understood man’s spiritual condition (Matt. 9:36; John 2:24-25), and did everything He could to change it. Do you have a heart for the lost like Christ? Do you yearn for their salvation like Paul? Do you zealously proclaim the gospel to the unsaved souls that you know?

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky. 

For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word: