Monday Thought -- July 7, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage -- with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

The World Cup soccer tournament is almost over. Each week a few more teams will be eliminated and in just a few weeks the champion will be crowned. The players will hang up their cleats and put away their uniforms. Lots of sports are seasonal sports .. football, baseball, basketball, soccer and others. There are times when the teams play and times when the sport takes a rest.

As you look at the way the Gospel has advanced through the years you can see a similar pattern. There are times when certain people and geographic regions are especially open to Lord -- the season is in. Revival sweeps a particular area and multitudes respond to the Lord. Paul came into some cities and found them anxious to hear the Gospel and ready to respond in great numbers. Sometimes, however, it’s like the whole city is resistant. You can preach the same message that was so effective with one audience and it seems to have no effect -- the season is out.

It’s tempting to hang up the cleats -- to put away the Bible and stop sharing the Gospel until you see the mood of the community change. But that’s not the right answer. The right answer is to keep preaching – in season and out -- to keep sharing the Gospel. For one thing, we don’t know when the season will change. It could happen quickly and if you keep preaching you’ll be there for opening day and ready to participate in the harvest. For another thing, even when the season is not in there are a few who buck the trend and are ready to respond. Even a small response – even the response of one -- is worth continuing to share the Gospel, despite the large number of rejections.

In parts of the world today there is a revival happening and people are responding to the Gospel by the multitudes. In America, it seems that the season is out and the response to the Gospel isn’t great. So, let’s do all we can to support and encourage and participate in the great harvest that’s happening elsewhere -- and let’s keep sharing the Gospel here, too, praising God for the few who do respond and praying for opening day!

His, by Grace,

Steve