When People Reject Christ

When individuals reject our Jesus it is difficult to be gracious to them but we must. It is particularly difficult when their rejection is firmly hateful or when their pride is obvious. When I share the gospel with folk and they reject it, it is not my wish to close the door between them and the Lord nor is that in my power. I do not know if or when they have closed that door eternally. God knows. I don*t even want to close the door between them and me. When I am firmly convinced that they will not receive Christ that day I offer to make myself available to them in the future and give them this verse:

Romans 10:13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I tell them that they do not need me to receive Christ but they need to do it. I tell them that they need to pray and ask Jesus to save them and come into their hearts and lives. I sometimes ask them if they have ever had the opportunity to receive Christ before. I am shocked at how many individuals tell me that they have not. I sometimes ask them if they know for sure that they will have another opportunity in the future. Again, I am shocked at how many are not sure they will have the opportunity again and still refuse to receive Christ. I sometimes tell them that I will pray that He will give them another opportunity. There is nothing in the world wrong with asking them more than once if they are willing to receive Christ today. When they have refused to receive Christ, I am comforted that I have planted some seeds or watered seeds that someone else planted. I pray for them.

I am encouraged by the patience of the Lord. I closed the door to Him myself many times before I finally received Him. I believe that the Lord only gives some individuals one opportunity to be saved and He gives others a multitude of opportunities. I don*t know which are which. When someone rejects Christ in my presence I ALWAYS pray that He will give them another chance. When I pray for them, I have NOT given up on them. I have done something more important than sharing the gospel with them. I have asked God to save them. He has to do the saving anyway. If one individual rejects Christ it is no reason not to share the gospel with the next one you meet.

1 Samuel 8:7: And the LORD said unto Samuel, . . . they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

The Lord has never said that to me, and I never know if they have rejected Him or me. Rejecting me does not cause them to be lost. I often hope that they have rejected me and not Him. I sometimes have a sense that they have rejected Christ but my senses are undependable. A number folk have gotten saved that I had personally given up on but continued to pray for.

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