I don't know about you, but
sometimes I'm not very smart regarding relationships. There are times when I
need to focus on what I am doing just a little more, perhaps be a little more
aware than I am. Most likely all of us at sometime uses our time poorly and
perhaps relate to others in less than appreciated ways.
A friend, Tom, told me that
recently they had one of their young grand daughters visiting. She got a Barbie
Doll and was playing with it on the floor. He being a good grandfather, got
down on the floor with her and tried to show some interest in what she was
doing. After a few minutes she looked at him and said, “Grandpa, don't you have
somewhere else you can play?” Wow! That's pretty blunt, but she made it clear
that she knew what she intended to do and didn't want him interfering.
How do you help someone who
doesn't want to be helped? How do you share with someone who doesn't want your
input? How do you love someone who doesn't want to be loved? Jesus had that
problem though he understood exactly what people needed. Yet even he couldn't
force them to want or except his company, his teaching or his love.
Jesus understood this completely
and warned his followers in Luke
9:22, “The Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be rejected by the
elders, the high priests and the scribes. Then he must be killed, but on the
third day he will be raised.”
In Matthew 23:37 Jesus said, “O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent
to her! How often I wanted to gather your
children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
unwilling.”
Rejected! How do you deal with
being rejected? That's one of our greatest fears isn't it? Why don't we get
more involved in people's lives? Why aren’t we more open in telling others
about the Gospel message? It's not that we fear folks will harm or kill us (for
the most part), it's that we fear they may reject us and our message isn't it?
Should that stop us from sharing, from trying to be involved in the lives of
other folks? Of course not… It didn't stop Tom from loving that grand daughter
and it didn't stop Jesus from loving this world. What about you?
