Perhaps

September 3

(Acts 17:27-28 NIV) “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. {28} 'For in him we live and move and have our being. 'As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'”

(Matthew 19:11 NIV) "Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given."

(Luke 13:23-24 NIV) "Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, {24} "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to."

(Romans 11:13-14 NIV) "I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry {14} in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them."

 When we speak of Jesus in the way Paul did, God uses our words to win some. When we speak the truth in love, the Unknown God can become the known God. Some will realize that we “live and move and have our being” in Christ. Some will seek the Lord, and “perhaps reach out and find Him”. He is near… but don’t miss the word “perhaps”. Not all will accept God’s offer of grace. Even Jesus did not win everyone when He was here. He was the perfect Son of God, and yet many did not believe. All humanity has a free will. Every individual can choose to accept or reject Christ, and there will always be those who will refuse to believe. But we must not focus on the refusals. We must continue to be faithful in praying for the lost, reasoning with them, and lifting up our risen Lord Jesus. Our hope is that “perhaps” some will be saved. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day