by A. A. Neale

Time to do some math: outside of meetings on Sundays and mid-week, and not counting your personal devotional time, how many hours do you spend a week in personal evangelism?

Count'em up. How many hours INVITING people to a Bible study -- public or personal; how much time discussing somebody's eternal destiny WITH THEM; how many hours in someone's living room or around their dining room table with an open Bible to bring them to a knowledge of salvation?

How many hours? Count'em up.

Now count how many hours you spent during the last week doing things like:

- watching TV or movies: ____
- playing sports or golf: ____
- playing computer or video games: ____
- surfing or chatting on the Internet: ____
- reading novels, romances, sci-fi or
adventure books: ____
- other personal, recreational time: ____

How many hours? Count'em up.

Now compare the two numbers:

-> hours spent in evangelism: ____
-> hours spent in personal time: ____

What do the numbers tell you? Maybe that you need to repent. Maybe that your priorities are skewed. Maybe that some changes are in order.

Maybe not. Maybe your evangelism time is greater than your personal time. If so, congratulations. And know that you're an exception in this me-first world.

The tally tells. If you are a Christian, you have a single mission in life, that of glorifying God by preaching the gospel. Let us make sure we -- all of us, individually -- are fulfilling it. Woe to us if we don't!

If you're not a Christian, you may find in Christ a purpose to your life that will outlast time to stretch into eternity, a joy at knowing that your efforts will have permanent effects.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19, NKJV).

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