Love does not win us all. Love is poured out upon us with unmeasurable reward. Yet, we all won't receive it or accept it. We won't all respond with eagerness. Some will reject it.
It won't matter how you wrap it up. Or how often you leave it on the doorway. Some people will not accept charity. Why? Pride.
My husband tells a story of a man who was near death. He asked the man if he knew where he would spend eternity if he died that night. The man said, "in hell". My husband asked if could share the way to escape that fate and the man allowed him to share Jesus and His attoning grace. Yet, when my husband asked him if he wanted to accept this priceless free gift of God's saving love, the man said no. Tears of remorse trickled down his aged face. He told my husband, he just couldn't do that. He carried a burden too deep--a sin he believed unforgiveable. He couldn't accept the grace and mercy God offered him.
My husband was heartbroken. It didn't matter that God loved that old man. The man would not give his heart and soul into the nail-scarred hands of freedom and peace. Love did not fail...it stayed at the door knocking. The old man just wouldn't open the door.
Do you know someone who believes their sin is too black to be forgiven, their past too filled with blackness to ever be cleansed? I pray you are able to share God's love in such a way they understand His goodness and mercy. May God so pierce their pride, that humility pours forth in tears of gratitude and praise. May they let go and let God do the work in them they cannot do themselves. selahV
