The vegetables are cooking in a pan on the stove. Your little two-year-old nephew is standing on a stool getting ready to touch the burner. What do you do?
Well, obviously, you run like crazy, scream “no” or “hot” and grab him before he can get hurt. You wouldn’t just stand there, knowing that he would get hurt and watch it happen.
Paul is basically saying the same thing in 2 Corinthians 5:11 (NKJV),
Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
He is referring back to verse 10 where he had explained that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ someday where we will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
Paul’s mission in life is to persuade men that Jesus is the Christ, that he is a just and righteous judge. Why? Because he knows that this event, the judgment, is coming and he doesn’t want to see anybody appear before the Lord that has not accepted His atoning sacrifice on their behalf. He doesn’t want them to get “burned” in the fires of hell.
We should care about the people around us in the same manner. Knowing that the judgment day is coming, we should rush to tell them of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, just as we would rush to save our two-year-old nephew from his fate.
SEEK FIRST THE
