By Thurman Hayes

A few weeks ago, a friend messaged me on Facebook, asking me to pray for the “boys in Thailand, trapped in a cave.”

I have to confess, I had been so busy that I had not even seen this story on the news. But I was immediately concerned. Just days before, I had returned from a mission trip to Thailand. As a dad, I couldn’t imagine what these parents were going through.

And then more details began to emerge. The boys were separated from the outside world by dangerous, narrow passages that were completely filled with murky water. It would take all kinds of Herculean measures to rescue them — if it were possible at all.

By this time, people around the world were riveted by the story. Millions were praying. We saw a brave Thai Navy SEAL give his life in an attempt to save them. We saw the days going by, and the clock ticking. We saw diagrams of what the water-filled cave passages looked like. And then we heard that one of the boys had been rescued! And then another! And another! By God’s grace, they were all saved.

But the story made me reflect on another salvation story, and another rescue operation.

We live among a sea of people who are in spiritual darkness. They are lost, separated from God, and will spend eternity separated from Him, unless they are rescued.

Well, a rescue operation has taken place. God so loved the world that he sent His one and only Son to rescue sinners like us from our sins. Our assignment as followers of Jesus is to tell others the good news about that rescue operation. Found people find people. We were lost, and now we are found. Now Jesus sends us out to tell others about His redeeming love.

As we prayed for these boys in the cave to be saved, it made me ask myself, “Thurman, how burdened are you for the lost people all around you?”

As we saw those boys rescued one by one, it made me ask myself, “Who is your one?” That’s how people come to know Jesus — one by one.

So who is your one? Who has God put in your life that needs to trust in the good news about Jesus? It could be a son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter. It could be another family member or relative. It could be someone you work with, or a friend or neighbor.

God puts people in our path for a reason. He is calling you and me to reach out to them.

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” The ultimate example is Jesus. 1 John 3:16 says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us…”

Jesus left the glory of heaven to come to us in our darkness. What lengths are we willing to go to, and what risks are we willing to take to reach people who need Him?

Dr. Thurman R. Hayes Jr. is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Suffolk. Follow him on Twitter at @ThurmanHayesJr.