By Grant B. Sullivan
Perhaps you can recall a time when you were lost in the dark during a cold winter night. In such circumstances it is easy to be overcome with the feeling of despair. Your mind begins to race with thoughts of “What if I can’t find my way home?” or “What if nobody finds me in time and I freeze?” I am reminded of a story concerning two traveling companions in the Himalayan mountain range of northern India. Upon this occasion the companions were caught in a brutal snow storm. As they traveled for safety they came upon a body lying in the snow. The man was still alive, but unconscious, and would not last long if left behind. One of the men decided to help this stranger get to safety, but the other objected, saying “we shall lose our lives if we burden ourselves with him.” Since they could not come to an agreement they parted ways. The man then picked the poor traveler up, and put him on his back, and with great exertion on his part, he carried him onward. As he walked, the heat cast off by his body began to warm the half frozen man. Soon he revived, and was able to walk on his own as they kept close to keep warm and help one another find shelter. Before long they came upon another body lying in the snow. This time it was too late; the man was already dead, frozen by the cold. Upon closer inspection, they discovered him to be the original traveling companion who had departed on his own.
This serves as a great example for us as Christians. Here we are living in a “Dark” and “Cold” world full of sin. We often find ourselves walking along in life with our fellow Christian, while we both try to “brave the elements”. Yet upon seeing someone lost and dying in sin nearly frozen to death, we will walk on by without giving them a helping hand. Thinking to ourselves, “Oh, they made their bed, and besides if I get too close I might not be strong enough to survive”. Perhaps we need to be reminded we were once that “man” lost in a dark chill, and that someone took the time to help us in our time of despair.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” Phil 2:4 (ESV), and again to the church at Rome, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak” Romans 15:1 (ESV). Finally to the church at Galatia he wrote, “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” Gal 6:2 (ESV). Remember you were once lost, but now are found, was blind but now see, and if I could add a line, “was cold, but now hot”. We need to be like the “good Samaritan” which Jesus spoke of in Luke chapter ten, and stop to help those who are in need.
By helping others we ourselves receive the strength we need to survive. It may be that someone we help convert to Christ will someday help us remain faithful. If we stop reaching out for the lost, and are not willing to assist those who are, then we will be like that traveling companion who would not stop to help the man in need, and went out all alone. The cold in this world will overtake us if we are not careful. One of the best ways to accomplish our goal is to spend as much time as possible with fellow Christians looking for opportunities to rescue the perishing.