This weekend I got the chance to witness to one of my co-workers. I had previously talked to him about my beliefs about a month before, and thought it was a good time to continue with the discussion. It was the last night I was going to work with him, and I felt like it was my responsibility to talk to him about it one last time.
He told me that he was an atheist, but that he used to be a Christian when he was younger because he was raised as one. I tried explaining to him that being a true Christian meant you had accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Being a very stubborn person, he decided to "gently" tell me that I was stupid for believing such a thing.
Feeling discouraged and at a loss for words, I quietly sat there and listened to him argue with everything I had said. Here's just a few of the comments he had for me:
I can't trust anyone but myself, so why believe in a higher power?
God didn't just show up out of no where and create the entire universe.
There's no point to life, really. Nothing happens after we die anyway.
If I was a Christian I would be unhappy.
The Bible isn't exactly a text book.
....Well, needless to say, I was a bit frustrated. I tried one last time to convince him of the life-changing news. Unfortunately, nothing I said registered the right way in his mind. I guess that's how it works sometimes. I can only hope and pray that someday what I said might come up again. Maybe he'll realize what he's missing out on. Maybe the only thing I was supposed to do was plant the seed.
SEEK: What do you want?
9 years ago
Don't be discouraged, but take confidence in God's charge to every Christian; that is, simply preach the Gospel. Don't forget that the saving of souls is not up to you. Rather it is based on the sovereign pleasure of God. Paul makes it clear to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:5-8) that the responsibility of the servant of God is to be faithful with what God has entrusted, the "one purpose," the Gospel. It is not our efforts, convincing or not, that save people, but it is by the grace of God that he chooses to grant growth to seeds. Jesus tells us that the fields are ripe with harvest. (John 4:35) Yet, we ought not find our ultimate happiness and satisfaction in the results of the harvest for the harvest can be difficult and the results discouraging at times. Instead, let us glory in the Lord of the harvest who provides growth according to his good pleasure. (John 6:44)
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