Day 191
Acts 13:48 J.B. Phillips Version
"When the gentiles heard this they were delighted and thanked God for his message. All those who were destined for eternal life believed."
When we are spreading the gospel, we must realize that everyone will not receive, but some will. As Paul and Barnabas preached in Antioch, Luke records in Acts 14 that those who were destined for eternal life believed. In other words, those whose hearts were receptive to God's Word responded positively. Those whose hearts were hard rejected the message.
We do not save, we only preach. Jesus saves. Salvation is not a forced religion, but an offer for a relationship. What we have is good enough to win converts. We must preach with conviction, because we know Jesus and what He has done in our lives. When some do not receive, we regret it and pray they will change their minds. We must go on, however, because somewhere else, others will receive.
It is like being in a big house with a fire blazing on the west side, and a hundred people are on the east side in different rooms. We want to stay in each room until we convince everyone that they need to leave. However, while we linger to convince two in one room, 98 are waiting for the message so their lives can be saved. Like a man on a mission to save as many as possible before the fire consumes the house, let us run with the message and help get the Word to as many as we can, while there is time.
We must never be discouraged by those who refuse. (For one thing, we do not know for sure that they will not change their minds after we leave. So, we pray for them and move on.) Let us stay excited about the ones we have reached and those we will reach at our next stop.
I will pray, give and share the Word to help as many people as possible get the message of Jesus Christ I will pray for those who refuse and rejoice over those who receive. I will keep going until I can do no more.