Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

THE WORTHLESS ENGINE A man once visited a railroad yard and saw a large train engine sidetracked. "That engine looks as if it could go," he said. "Why have you switched it off from the rest?" The workman who was showing the man through the yard replied, "It can pull itself all right, but there is something wrong with it, for it can't pull anything else." The workman added, "Engines are not intended to run alone. They're supposed to pull a train of cars." Notice when Christ called the Twelve, He called them saying: I will make you to become fishers of men. The call for these men and for us is to liveliness and not laziness. The Christian who just keeps himself going and does not become a soul winner is like the worthless engine. The greatest tragedy that can come to a Christian is barrenness. The Bible says: For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). The amazing truth is that even before we were born, God gave assignments to us. One day, He will ask how well we carried through with them. Therefore, let us remember that we not only have received the call to salvation, peace, and eternal life but, in the same call, have received the commission to become fishers of men. May God help us to take the message of the Gospel to the lost and dying of the world. May we always remember that Jesus commissioned us to go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16:15).