If NOT YOU, WHO?

    Can I talk about one of my "Pet Peeves?" I have a problem with people who blame all their troubles on someone else. I have been around people who are the constant victims, nothing is ever their fault. I do think all of us do this at times. 

At some point, if you are going to follow Jesus, you have to make a decision to acknowledge your sinfulness and you have to OWN IT. That is a tough first step. It is so easy to say, "I am a good person." In fact none of us are good enough. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 9:23) When we say someone is good, we really mean comparatively speaking they are good. 

As I was reading Hebrews 3, I read a statement that backs this up:

"Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." (Hebrews 3:12, NLT)

We are responsible for our OWN heart. We can't force our kids to believe. We can't force our grandkids to believe. We can't force our neighbors, friends, and community members to believe. I wish we could! They have to accept that Jesus is LORD on their own.

But, the next verse is so important:

"You must warn each other every day, while it is still "today" so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ." (Hebrews 3:13-14, NLT)

I love that it says we must WARN each other while we still can. HOW do we GENTLY WARN others? The world is doing the deceiving and we need to be the voice on the other side of the world's message. We can't argue anyone into heaven, but we can certainly warn them of the consequences of their actions and what they will be missing if they do NOT believe. It is not an easy discussion, but if NOT YOU, then WHO? 

We have a responsibility to warn of the coming judgment. If we do it in a way no one will listen, are we really warning them? We need the gentleness and the love of Jesus to properly warn others. We need to be sure we are NOT CONTRIBUTING to the HARDNESS of their HEARTS. May God always help us share his love!