Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - Never Off Duty - #5144

Thursday, September 28, 2006

It was four months after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center that a moving postscript was added to the accounts of rescue heroism that we had already heard. Some 343 firefighters lost their lives on September 11, going in to rescue people at a time when everyone else was fleeing. But a subsequent review of the fatalities revealed that sixty of those who died were "off duty" when they rushed into the burning towers at the World Trade Center. Some of the firefighters who gave their lives that day had been at home or working second jobs when they heard about the fires at the towers and they sped to the scene in taxis or in their own cars. A fire department spokesman said, "Those who were 'off duty' joined those who were already working in a valiant and courageous effort to save as many lives as possible."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Never Off Duty."

That actually is the mindset of someone who's concerned about saving lives. You're not always rescuing, but you're never "off duty" when it's time for a rescue. That is a powerful picture of a follower of Jesus Christ whose life is truly available for Christ's service. You never go "off duty." Not when lives are at stake.

Paul, the early church's greatest rescuer, gave that kind of instruction to an up-and-coming rescuer, Timothy. It's in 2 Timothy 4:2 , our word for today from the Word of God. "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season." You never know when the opportunity is going to pop up to talk about having a relationship with Jesus Christ or to reach out and let someone see Christ in the way you love them. Those things can't be scheduled or just what you do when it's your "job" to do it. You never know when the call is doing to come from your Lord, "There's a life that needs a rescuer right now, and I'm sending you."

This doesn't mean you don't follow God's command to take time off or to focus on your primary ministry (your family), or to take care of your everyday responsibilities. They are part of your life's work, too. But this "never off duty" mindset is always open to opportunities in the everyday to represent Jesus. You're actually looking for, praying for those kinds of opportunities. And you're flexible enough to drop what you're doing when the summons comes from Headquarters to touch a life with God's redeeming love.

Maybe you've seen those city buses that have a sign on the front - "Out of Service." If you understand what it means to belong to Jesus Christ, you should never consider yourself "out of service." Those who have joined Jesus in the spiritual rescue mission for which He came, for which He died, just don't go "off duty" - not when there are lives at stake.

No matter how uncomfortable they are, no matter how weary they are, no matter how they're feeling, no matter how risky it is, that tragic day at the burning World Trade Center, people showed up to make a difference who didn't have to be there. But they were rescuers. They knew that when there are lives at stake, you drop everything to do what you can to save lives. Can those whose job it is to rescue people for all eternity do anything less?