"Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, 'It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you rejected it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.' ....But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium."
Acts 13:46, 51
It may seem a harsh reaction by Paul and Barnabas to give up on the Jews. They just recognized that there were other people to reach with the Gospel of Christ. They could have spent the rest of their lives beating their heads against a stone wall trying to get the Jews to accept their Messiah. But they saw the futility of it and turned to those who were open to receive – the Gentiles. When they shook off the dust from their feet, they were only doing what Jesus had told his disciples to do when they were rejected (Luke 9:5). I don't think this means we should easily give up on people. Paul never lost his burden for the Jews that they would be saved (Romans 10:1). It is just a recognition that we should be judicious with our time and energy, and make the most effective use of them we can.
Today's Thought: With limited resources, we should make the most of what we have and not beat a dead horse.
Have a witnessing day. Love you.
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