"Then I said, 'I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.'
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back, And I could not."
I so often feel like Jeremiah, in that I could not hold back His word, even if I so wanted. Two sides playing into this, one being my passion and Joy in the Lord, and the other being the reality of sin and seeing its affects (not 'effects', right?) on people.
1 - I am experiencing God's goodness and freedom, how can I keep this to myself?
2 - How can I sit back and watch others go down this path?
Below is a video with insight, even from an atheist: "How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"
Taking this to heart, I trudge forward in evangelism. Encouraged and passionate by day, discouraged and debilitated by night.
Somewhere along the way, I take a inappropriate burden upon myself. Rather than my ministry being an overflow of the joy and forgiveness I am receiving from the Lord, I have begun to bypass my relationship with the Lord (and my sense of Peace/Hope) and am swimming around in this reality of sin - frantic to save everyone I can. I find myself confused over verse that tell us to not "cast your pearls before swine" and that "the message of the Cross if foolishness to those who are perishing"
You see idolatry can be a sneaky thing. Even if the best motives are not kept in check, we can begin worshipping the very thing we are fighting, by granting it more power over us than we do the Lord.
There is one SMALL point that needs to be made, what does God say? Really, I am asking, please tell me.
This brings me to David. David was said to be a man after God's own heart, until he took something which was not given to him by God. Am I doing this with nonbelievers whom the Lord has not entrusted to me specifically? [Now I havn't taken my Biblical Interpretation class, (though I did get my text book in the mail today -woohoo) but I did have a Pastor give me this application, as he was subtly calling me out, so that means it's right.]
In Matthew 10:14, Christ tells us to shake the dust off our feet when departing from those who will not receive nor hear our words.
{insert wisdom and application for this verse}
As I write this, I can't help but realize I have written many posts over the last couple months regarding the believer's role in evangelism. I think God's trying to teach me something...
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