Luke 10:10 Whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, know this. The Kingdom of God has come near to you. Christ will visit your city soon. Pentecost is about one year away.for the people in this story. For us today, He has come. Available to all men. The LORD is nigh.
From 2,000 years ago to this very day, Jesus never told them to go win a city but to share His Gospel and let the hearer decide. The gospel mission is to give our families and friends and communities an opportunity to hear and know the Truth. If our family and friends reject the Gospel, it is not the responsibility of the messenger but the hearer.
This verse frees me from the constraints and angst I have felt from decisions of my family and friends not to follow God. God is not commanding any specific individual or town to be "won for the Master," but rather that the Message be proclaimed. The rest is left up to the hearer. So, shake that dust from your feet, Bev. Be concerned for the hearer but it is their decision and, as someone once said, I cannot nag any child into the Kingdom of God. That is not my mission in life. Salvation belongs to Him and the hearer.
Woe to Austin! Woe to Dallas! Tyre and Sidon never had the opportunity of having Jesus visit or they would have repented. We have Him here. Repent. Don your sackcloth and ashes. Don't wait. Drop it all. Drop your deadly doings for the Kingdom is at hand. "The one who hears you hears Me and the one who rejects you rejects Me," Luke 10:16. When your child, your husband, your friend hears your words, they are actually hearing the Light of the World. He is not a God of force but of conviction of sin and righteousness and judgment. What will your decision be? What will theirs be? Shake the dust off. And rejoice that your names are written in heaven, not because you were victorious over the Enemy---that's about you! No, Rejoice for your name is inscribed upon His Palm, written in the Lamb's Book of Life! Rejoice in His Work, Luke 10:20.
Oh, that our only concern should be to get His Word out to the people, proclaim the Good News and then let them choose or reject. Rejoice when they accept and trust the rest up to Him. We should not be concerned with numbers and what "we" do, we should be concerned with how we live for Him and how others are growing in Him. Not what we have done or they have not done.
ReplyDelete"Two by two He sent them." for safety, for companionship, for insuring the job got done, for a witness to confirm the miracles, for encouragement, and on and on. Even in the small things, what a brilliant plan He has for us.
ReplyDeleteAnd His prayer of joy for their eyes that saw the Kingdom revealed:
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!"
How blessed we are to have this Word of God speaking to us, falling like rain on parched souls, not just to refresh us but to share in the bounty all that we've been given eyes to see.
Something about eyes that window souls, that reflect Him when He is present. . .Something about perspective that shifts to God centered when we can see what confounds the wise. . .Something about miracles that testify by our own eyes. . . Indeed blessed to see and share Kingdom vision.