KEY SCRIPTURE: John 4:9 KJV “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”

When the Lord requested for water, the woman said, how come that you a Jew ask me a Samaritan to give you water. Don’t you know we Samaritans and the Jews have nothing in common? The woman raised a barrier to any further comment from the Lord. She was saying in effect, we have nothing doing with you, and so don’t talk to me. Her response was simply negative.

Responses vary as there are a number of humans. As we meet people to share the gospel with them, they would put up varying responses. Responses fall within two extremes. It would either be negative or positive. Most people express a rather receptive attitude towards the word of God. They are ready to hear what the scriptures teach. To do what the bible says is the real challenge. This is where your prayers must bring about, the changes.

Negative responses are always not the same. There are those who would just be very cold towards you. They would not express complete outrage, but would not listen attentively. Their attitude is that, just finish speaking and let me go ahead with what I’m doing. To such people let them respond to questions you pose to them. If you do the talking alone, without any feedback, he or she would just close the mind and would not hear or follow you in any way.

There are also those who would negatively respond by opposing the very foundation of the word of God. They have preconceived notions about the scriptures. Don’t be hysterical about such people, I have realised that most people who oppose the word do not read the whole passage, but would just read a line or two and generalise the whole thing. To answer such people please read the whole chapter and you would see the right answer there. Such outright opposes are in the minority.

Always be ready for any response. In the Jesus story, the woman’s negative response did not stop the master, but rather He used it to go to His next point. Your concern in sharing the gospel is not to win an argument but to help the individual, make a decision for Jesus. The Holy Spirit is always ready to help us. Trust that He would assist you to give the right answers to your enquirers. Amen

THOUGHT:  BE EVER READY TO GIVE OUT THE GOSPEL

FURTHER STUDIES

March 16:15 KJV “”And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

2Timothy 4:2 KJV “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”