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 cleanse – 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.
    1 Kings 17 tells us Elijah’s life was threatened in Israel, the home of God’s ten tribes who had split from Judah and Benjamin. In response, God sent the prophet to Zarephath, a foreign pagan land. There God used Elijah to show his goodness. He provided the daily bread for a widow and her son when she had one last meal to eat. (See 1 Kings 17:15-16.)
    Elisha, too, lived in Israel and followed Elijah’s ministry. Yet, it was Naaman, a foreign – and pagan – military officer who had leprosy. He heard of Elisha’s power through his servant girl he had brought from Israel. At her urging, Naaman went to Elisha for healing. (See 2 Kings 5.)
    These are just two incidents when God’s own people rejected God’s prophets. They rejected God’s provision. They rejected God.
    Foreign unbelievers obeyed the prophets and received the blessings the Lord had prepared for Israel.
    In a like manner, people closest to you will often reject your attempts to share the gospel. You may have experienced this. When you speak to them about God’s salvation, love, forgiveness and  promises, they might look at you with contempt or say, “Who made you God?” Of course, you could respond, “The Holy Spirit has caused me to be God’s messenger of his grace to save your soul.”
    As people reject God’s Word, remember to be as Jesus. Know that your responsibility is to first speak of God and his favor to draw mankind to him. Second, your life’s purpose is to follow Jesus as closely as you can. Pray for your own heart to receive Jesus’ teachings. When you do, you will gain a closer relationship with him. Pray for your family and friends to know this, too. Remember that true belief ultimately occurs when the Spirit opens pagan hearts to Jesus.
 
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, tell and live your truth. Amen.