No guaranteed approach

After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he talked about faith in Christ Jesus. But as Paul went on discussing about goodness, self-control, and the coming Day of Judgment, Felix was afraid and said, ‘You may leave now. I will call you again when I get the chance.’ (verses 24,25)

Read Acts 24:24-25:12

Some people think that if you say the right words and approach people in the right way you can ‘win people for Christ’. Of all Christian missionaries, Paul must be considered to have been very successful, yet even he couldn’t cause Felix to believe. As soon as Felix heard about the consequences of having faith in Jesus, he was turned right off.

It’s still much the same today. You can talk to people, help them, provide for them, pray for them and even beg them to believe in Jesus, but sometimes their hearts become hard and they just won’t listen to you. Some people don’t like the consequences of believing in Jesus. They would rather keep control of their own life than entrust themselves to someone else. Perhaps they don’t want to believe because they can’t see any profit in it. They may not want to change the way they live; they don’t want to live for God.

If there are people like this around you, keep on praying for them, talking with them and helping them as you are given the opportunity to do so, then leave them in God’s hands. After all, he’s the only one who can create the miracle of faith anyway.

Lord God, I thank you for giving me faith so that I believe in you. Please continue to bring others to faith in you. Amen.

by Stuart Kleinig, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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