Without Understanding

There is No Understanding

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” 9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 6:8-10 (ESV)

                I truly love this chapter of the Bible and the calling of Isaiah to the role of prophet. But the message has always made me wonder; why you would send someone to confuse the people you are trying to save till I realized Jesus quotes this same scripture in Mark 4 and explains that only those who desire to know God will hear and understand the message and be changed by it. One of the first things I had to learn about sharing my faith was the Word of God is offensive to those who do not believe. The second thing I learned was that it was not me personally that offended them and that if they did not receive it from me that I was not to take it personally. Jesus told us;

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Matt 5:11 (ESV)

See we may find ourselves being attacked for the Gospel but it is only because those who would attack you do not know or want to know Jesus. Today’s Culture is full of individuals who have just enough understanding of religion to say well Yes I go to church. Especially this time of year we will see an influx of what one man called CEO Christians this month; Christmas, Easter and Other Special occasions, they will come to see children’s plays, choirs singing special music and all the free food they can eat. My question is will they experience the love of God from those who are the regulars in our churches or will we show them the fleshly nature that we all can have.  I am a strong believer that you must live out your faith. Do we make those who visit the church welcome or do we treat them like outsiders. Do we walk in only thinking about what I can get out of today’s service or do we take a minute to greet a stranger. I once had a friend tell me He would not come back to the church I was attending.  I ask him why? His exact words were, “They are too friendly there.” Let me tell you I was very proud of my church that day. By the way he was not ready to receive what God had for Him. But he is in a church not the one I attend but he loves were God has called him to. Please remember this one fact in today’s culture the average convert to Christianity has heard the gospel eight times. That is why it is important that we always live out our faith and share as much of the good news as we can. You never know when it might be the 8^th time for that person you are talking too. Without understanding of the message and a drawing of the Holy Spirit there can be no salvation. Have a blessed day.