Luke 10:8-12
8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
There’s a key principle here for us to remember. Once we’ve started building relationships with people (see Tuesday’s notes) and shared God’s peace with them (see yesterday), how they respond is not our responsibility, that is between them and God. We are not called to bring everyone to the point of faith, nor should we feel guilty if people don’t respond. Instead, Jesus encourages us to focus our energies on those who respond warmly to tentative first approaches and to not get distracted by those who do not.
Having prayerfully identified someone on Tuesday and shared God’s peace with them on Wednesday, maybe today you could prayerfully open up a conversation about faith with them in person, in a text or email. Maybe a simple ‘Can I pray for you about anything?’ and see where it takes you.
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