“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

Daniel 12:3 KJV

These are the soul winners, the people who burn to see others saved from the wrath of God. These are those who have given up everything for the sake of Christ and the message He has give us regarding the salvation of the souls of human beings, that never die. We are not animals, but eternal beings, who had a start, but not an end. We live forever with the Lord, or without Him. The latter is unthinkable. We must make sure we are in the eternal kingdom, and then make sure those around us are too.

God says those who burn for Him in this life, will shine forever as stars in the sky. There seems to be levels of bliss in heaven and rewards for the hose who are faithful, especially in spreading the word, the good news of the gospel. To be a soul winner is a lifestyle choice. It takes many and varied forms, and is really just the Christian living life and obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit in speaking about God.

What do we say and do? It’s not a code we have to break, but the simple sincerity of speaking of the Lord Jesus whenever we can. We need judgment and wisdom to know what to say, how to say it and when to say it. This is learned through experience and practice, just like we learn anything else. God will help us to know what to say at the right time.

It is difficult because there is reproach with the gospel. We must speak about human sinfulness and failure, and no one wants to heat about that. We cannot be saved from our lost state, without the realisation that we have sin and we are sinful and therefore need a Saviour. This involves heart searching and heart ache, and no one wants that either! We must love righteousness and hate evil, and our natural inclinations are not towards godliness. Seeking the Lord with all our hearts, in loves the working of the Holt Spirit in or lives, and the perseverance to go on looking for that personal relationship, until we find God.

The good news is that we can be forgiven. Every rotten thing can be forgotten about and put away for us, the past and the future. We do have a saviour, who has died to put away our sin and the indwelling sinful nature that bothers us so much. We will find our way to the cross of Christ, and we will find that relationship with Jesus, when we come in complete surrender to Him. Faith is given to us, so we can believe and find that forgiveness and the eternal life promised to all who believe.

This is the message, and it is not popular. But it brings life and hope to the unbeliever. To be the message-bearer is a privilege, but not for the faint hearted. Winning souls over to Christ is a spiritual work and therefore targeted by the enemy, Satan, as something to be stopped. The soul winner needs to stay close to their Lord, and have the closest of fellowship with Him. We need the protection of the whole armour of God, which we can red about in Ephesians chapter 6.

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Ephesians 6:11-13 NIV

To keep going and succeed, we must have the end in view. Heaven is our home, not here and now. Glory is our destiny, not what may be meted out in this world, indeed, we should expect nothing here or now. This is hard for us, because we are earth- bound creatures, and not naturally spiritual. If we know God, then we have the powerful help of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and help us always. We stay close to Jesus, our Saviour and Lord, and we petition the Father for His grace. This is true star-making stuff!

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 5:10-12

We take confidence and encouragement from the Scripture and follow our Lord Jesus and walk as he walked, in the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. We will reach our heavenly destination with honour and blessing and eternal glory.