It was on Wednesday night and one of my sons went to the garage looking for something. I would like to say, “A broom perhaps.” But that was not the case. I still don’t know why he went to the garage to this day. When he came back in the house, in an exclamatory way he shouted, “Oh great! There is a bat in the garage!” He was not referring to a baseball bat, but a bat that is part of the animal kingdom. When I went out to check on, I did not see a bat.
Later that evening, my wife and I get in the car to drive to church for choir rehearsal. The rehearsal is going fine, that is until a bat started flying back and forth in the sanctuary. The reaction of the people in the sanctuary was as comical as it was fearful. Choir members were ducking behind pews. Brave men grabbed books and brooms and tried to bang the bat on it’s fast flight, back and forth from the highest point in the sanctuary to a the lower back part of the church. I’ll say this, if that bat was a major league picture, he would have won a Cy Young Award, because he was not hittable. He had a no-hitter going. The bat finally lurched on a wooden beam at the highest point in the sanctuary. The choir, got to give it to them, resumed rehearsal. They started with prayer. I was standing in the back watching, and as you can imagine, a few of the members prayed with one eye open and one eye shut. You might be laughing, but this is a true story.
Let me get closer to my point, so I can make a clarification regarding The Great Commission. After rehearsal, as I drove home, I wondered if the bat showed up, hitching a ride to church, riding on or in our car. I still have not figured that out yet. But if it we did bring the bat to church, I have to apologize.
You see, The Great Commission as expressed in the verse below did not relate to bringing bats to church, but rather people who need to transfer from lost to found, from darkness to light, from eternal death to eternal life. No bats! People! Souls that need to be saved!
Well, I hope you are through envisioning what I described and are ready to see the need for evangelizing today. We got work to do! Let’s get to it! And, if someone needs a ride to church, knowingly, purposely, bring them with you! Smile! Be blessed!
“And the lord said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Luke 14:23 King James Version)
Talk about bring others to Christ. This is a good one. I remember that evening clearly. I want to follow the great commission. Yet, I agree, bring souls to be saved rather than animal kingdom. My soul is anchored and I want to strive to follow His great commission.
Thanks Gloria! Keep anchored! Be blessed!