It seems to me that when people first get saved they have this zeal and excitement about there faith and the first thing they want to do is take the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God to their family and friends. This excitement is beautiful and powerful but seems to fade so quickly.
As I was reading in Mark 6 today I was amazed by this event when Jesus goes to His home town. Jesus and His disciples go into the synagogue where Jesus starts teaching. His teaching and passion and knowledge of God's word amazed the people. But no matter what Jesus did or said He was view as nothing more than the kid who grew up down the street.
"Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him."
Many of us tend to lose our passion for sharing our faith because we are rejected by those that we are the closest to. Jesus responded to this with this statement, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." Jesus knew that this would be a great challenge in the lives of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
The Good News:
What I like most about this event in Jesus' life isn't what happened at this moment but the bigger picture of Jesus' ministry. I don't believe that it was just by chance that two of our New Testament books where penned by two of Jesus' younger brothers. First we have the letter from James. James called himself, "James, the lesser," because he saw himself as the lesser brother of Jesus. The other book is the book of Jude. Jude was written by Judas who refers to himself as, "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James" ~Jude 1:1 Judas didn't even consider himself worthy to be called the brother of our Lord so called himself the brother of James.
The fact is Jesus knew His brothers would come around, you and I don't. We need to remain steadfast, knowing that God will richly bless those who take Him to others, even those who reject Him.
May you hold on to the zeal and excitement of your salvation. May you never be discouraged when you are rejected for His name sake. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD." ~Psalm 118:26a
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