Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

9 April 2025

Reading From Luke 10:1-24

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

—Luke 10:5-12

     There’s a lot to unpack here, but the Spirit drew my attention today to the fact that not everyone is receptive to the Gospel and that his is not necessarily the fault of those who share the Lord’s message of reconciliation.  Some believers, particularly those who sense a call to full time vocational ministry, have a tendency to put so much pressure on themselves.  When people are not accepting of Jesus and His Word right away, we see it as that we’ve somehow not done a good job of communicating the Good News and therefore have failed the Lord and those we’re trying to reach for Him.  This is not fair and I thank the Lord He is gracious and merciful.

     As followers of Jesus, we are each called to minister His love and message to others and to minister with our whole hearts and with excellence.  We do this by diligently studying and rightly dividing the Word of truth, keeping our hearts sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and searching for creative opportunities to make disciples.  But there comes a time when we need to be okay with the fact that we can lead a horse to water, but we can’t make it drink. 

     Some people will joyfully receive the testimony God has given us while others will callously reject it.  We cannot force others to serve the Lord and even if we could, that’s not the kind of faith God wants from anyone.  He welcomes all people to come unto Him.  He has chosen the whole world to accept Him, but He wants people to exercise their free moral agency to choose Him in return.  It breaks our hearts when we have done everything we know to do to reach them and they still reject Him, but don’t beat yourself up about it.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  The decision to accept or reject Him is theirs alone.

“Lord God, thank You for Your Word that brings so much wisdom to our lives.  Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light.  We treasure the Gospel that You have entrusted to us to share with others.  I pray that those we minister to will believe and receive You wholeheartedly; that the seed we sow will fall on good soil, grow, and produce a bountiful spiritual harvest.  When those we faithfully minister to do not choose You, may we not be too hard on ourselves.  Thank You for Your grace, mercy and perfect understanding.  We love You, Lord.  Amen.”

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

—Luke 10:16

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

—Romans 8:1

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

—II Corinthians 3:17