August 21 Speak Love

Luke 4:23-27 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.”
 
THIS is a good point to be reminded that a Christ-follower may not be effective at home. Jesus, speaking to people who watched him grow up, makes this point with Elijah’s and Elisha’s ministries. Do you remember these? Elijah’s life was threatened in Israel, the home of God’s own people. He went to Zarephath, a foreign land. Yet, it was there God used Elijah to supply the “daily bread” for a widow and her son who were almost out of food. Elisha, too, lived in Israel; yet, it was a foreign military officer whom he healed of leprosy. God’s own people rejected God’s prophets. Foreign unbelievers obeyed the prophets (even reluctantly) and received the prophets’ blessings.
    In a like manner, people closest to you will often reject your attempts to share the gospel. You may have experienced this. As you speak to them of sin, salvation, love, forgiveness and God’s promises, they might look at you or say outright, “Who made you God?” Of course you could respond, “The Holy Spirit has anointed me to be a child of God.” But that might be a little too much for an unbeliever. A better response might be, “I certainly am not God, but I love you so much, I want you to know him as I do.”
    As you will see, Jesus was rejected in his hometown just as the prophets were and just as you are.  As we continue on, remember the Jews’ have a two-edged response to Jesus’ teachings. They love his words, but they refuse to live his words.
    As you experience people rejecting God’s Word, be as Jesus. Know that your responsibility is to first speak of God and his favor to draw mankind to him. And then second, you must live in God’s ways as closely as you can. Pray, too, for your own heart to receive Jesus’ teachings. Pray for your family and friends in the same way. Remember that true belief ultimately occurs when the Spirit opens ears.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your great words to teach me of sin and salvation. In Jesus’ name, humble my heart, Holy Spirit, to hear and live your truth. Amen.