To Busy

The tale was shocking, an apparent display of callousness. Sir Edmund Hillary, who was on the team that first climbed Everest in 1953, called it "horrifying." Climbers would leave a dying man and within hours, David Sharp, 34, was dead. Desperate for oxygen David collapsed along a well-traveled route to the summit. Dozens of people walked right past him, unwilling to risk their own ascents. The official cause of death was that people were too busy climbing their mountain to stop and help someone who was dying. That happens more than we know. The ones who are dying may be people we see every day. The Bible describes every person without Christ in words like these: they are "lost." 

Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. The Apostle Paul described them this way;  

Ephesians 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Some of the people we see Jesus describes as condemned;

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

There's no way anyone can get into heaven with their sins unforgiven. And the only One who can forgive them is the only One who died for those sins; Jesus. So we have dying people all around us. People whose eternal destination may hinge on whether or not we stop for them to tell them what Jesus did for them on the cross. Just living a good life in front of them won't explain that. We'll have to tell them. You’ll find a story very similar to David Sharp in Luke chapter 10. There’s a man that fell among robbers that stripped him, beat him and left him almost dead. Can you believe it, here comes a priest but oh no, what is he doing?

Luke 10:31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Now that’s awful; that priest didn’t even really see if the man was ok or not and passes him by. Well look here, what luck, it’s a Church going man; wait a minute what is he doing?

Luke 10:32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. Could someone please tell me what’s so important on the other side of the street? Now here comes someone who is really busy;

Luke 10:33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, Yes, he saw him; ok what did he do? He had compassion on him, that word “compassion” means “suffering with another; painful sympathy; a sensation of sorrow.”  It’s a friend wrapping their arms around you and pulling you tight toward them and giving you kind words of comfort and encouragement. Clarence Sullivan was 68 years old when I met him (I was 36) and I’ll never forget what he said to me. We had just ended a revival meeting. He was leaving going back to his home in Tennessee. We had prayer and he stood to his feet. Tears were running down his face and this is what he said. “I would give all I had away if I could have had what I have now when I was your age.” You see Clarence was a multi millionaire and he said all anyone ever cared about was his money, but you care for my soul and where I’ll spend eternity. I’ll have to write about Clarence at another time; but just be careful who you pass by today you might be able to help them.  

Sharp, an engineer, died May 15, 2006, about 1,000 feet into his descent from the summit.