And Pharaoh took off his [signet] ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. – Genesis 41:42, Amplified Bible (AMP)

It was the Fall of 1991. My roommates and I set up our television set, our stereo system, and a couple of couches in the chilly night air outside of our dorm room.  We were broadcasting the National League Championship Series in the great outdoors, and before long we had dozens of fellow college students join us in watching the Atlanta Braves play for a spot in the World Series. One of only a handful of teams to go from worst to first in one year, the Braves did indeed go to the World Series, defeating the favored Pittsburgh Pirates in seven hard-fought playoff games. 

When the Braves won Game 7 against the Pirates, all mayhem broke loose! Those of us who were already outside were joined by hundreds of others flooding out of their dorms. The air was filled with excitement, shouts of joy, and jovial discussions recapping the drama of it all, and the celebration lasted for quite a while before the campus settled down for the night.

When a sinner goes from worst to first by trusting Christ as Savior, there is rejoicing in Heaven that puts our 1991 celebration to shame. Like Joseph was rescued from slavery and prison and given an inheritance among kings, every sinner saved by grace leaves the slavery of sin and the prison of Hell behind, gaining instead the inheritance of The King. Such a miracle makes Heaven abuzz with excitement, and well it should, for that which was lost has been found, and that which was doomed has been rescued.

Too often we are apathetic when we learn of a soul’s rescue from Hell. We give a smile and a nod when we should be giving a shout and a bear hug. We are cold to salvation because we’ve lost sight of what a wonderful rescue Christ performs each time He saves a soul. If we get excited when our favorite sports team wins a game, we should get excited an hundredfold when someone’s eternal death is replaced with life everlasting. The former means nothing. The latter means everything. If we have those priorities reversed, then we’ve lost the mind of God when it comes to the souls of others, and we should beg God to remind us of the value of a soul. The telltale sign He has answered our prayer is that, the next time we hear of someone’s salvation, we won’t just nod our heads – our hearts will leap for joy!

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