Leap into Eternity

A picture came across my Facebook feed today of a person mid-air in front of a backdrop of steel – a head-first free fall of death. “Never forget” is the official social media hashtag of the day, and many Americans are mourning the loss of lives and the start of a different kind of war – not against any one nation, but against the enemy of terrorism.

It’s estimated that around 200 people jumped or fell to their death that day – seeing a falling death as preferable over the smoke and flames that were encroaching upon them. The tragedy of that day and its implications for the shaping of American history are very real.

But there is another reality.

How many souls were lost to eternal death on that day?

How many jumped from spreading fire reaching temperatures of 1000°F into an eternal destiny of everlasting fire? How many went to work not knowing that it was their last day to enjoy earth before suffering more than they had ever suffered?

Nineteen souls knew. They knew it was their last day on earth. They stepped into four airplanes that morning confident that within hours they would be enjoying the pleasures of a sensual paradise they had been conditioned to trust since the day they were born and their parents whispered the shihaddah into their ears. Can you imagine their shock when, in an instant, their bodies were burned up and they found themselves in a place of eternal destruction?

As Jesus traveled throughout the Middle East, He saw something His disciples didn’t see. He saw people who were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Jesus didn’t see them grazing. It wasn’t their physical circumstance that caused Him to have compassion. He saw souls. He saw people without hope for spending eternity with Him. When He saw and had compassion, He committed the task to His disciples: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field” (9:37-38).

It’s easy for us to see tragedy and see bodies. It pricks our heart and our conscience to see refugees clinging to lifeboats and to see people jumping from buildings. It moves the heart of God, too. But He sees beyond this temporary life to the condition of each soul and its response to His gift of grace. He doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked, but desires that they would repent (Ezekiel 18:23).

He even sees me in my short-sightedness. He sees when, rather than sharing truth, I live as an enemy of the cross, delighting more in my own satisfaction – my mind set on earthly things (Philippians 3:18-20). He gently reminds me that my citizenship is in heaven and I am an ambassador – for that reason I can boldly proclaim truth that frees souls from bondage to false religion.

My heart is stirred anew to the souls around me that are leaping – they are leaping from the surrounding pressure of life and religion, hoping that they might somehow be spared. They don’t know that they are leaping into death that is deadlier than anything they’ve imagined. Jesus, may your compassion lead me to praying for workers and going myself.