Jacob Haywood

(5th entry from Grace Park Family Devotional Guide)

¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Devotional

This world we live in seems like it only gets worse and worse. How did it ever get to such a low point? How did it get so far down? How is it ever going to turn around?

Nearly half of the world’s population, more than 3 billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. 870 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. People are living in poverty.

There are more slaves now than there ever have been in the history of the world…approximately 27 million, and America has them too. 78% of slavery victims today are in labor slavery. 22% of slavery victims today are trafficked. Out of all these slaves, 26% are children under age 18. People and children are sold into slavery.

Of the approximate 7 billion people in the world today, around 70% are non-Christians…that’s 4.9 billion people who do not know Jesus. Also, there are 6,897 unreached people groups in the world. This means there are at least 2.94 billion people who have never even had the opportunity to hear about Jesus. There is nobody in their area or language who can tell them how to be saved. People don’t know Jesus.

People living in poverty…children sold into slavery…people not being able to hear about Jesus… If you’re like me, when you hear these statistics, you want to scream, “God, why don’t You do something?!”

His answer is this…“I did. I created you.”

The idea for this devotional was taken from Matthew West’s song “Do Something.”

Discussion Questions

-Talk about what is going through your head after hearing these statistics (poverty, slavery, unreached people).

-Based off the Romans Scripture you read, how are people saved?

-How can you do something?

Prayer

God, give me eyes to see the world as a mission field. Help me be your hands and feet to a world in need. Give me the strength and courage to do something, with your help, for your glory.