Ready and Willing

God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.
–Acts 10:34–35

The story of Peter and Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, teaches us that no one is saved without a personal faith in Christ. What does this mean for you and me today?

First of all, like Peter, we must be available to proclaim the gospel. When God told Peter to meet with Cornelius’s men, he went. And when Cornelius asked him to speak about God, he was ready to share the gospel.

It is no accident that God has placed you in the family and the community you’re in. You may be the mouthpiece God uses to introduce somebody to Christ. You need to be available and ready to share the gospel when the opportunity comes.

Second, like Peter, we must want to proclaim the gospel to others. Before Peter was used by God, he had to be changed by God. Peter had prejudice in his own heart. There were certain people he didn’t want to see in heaven. Is there anyone you don’t want to see in heaven? Is there anyone you’re more inclined to resent than to witness to? If so, ask God to change your heart.

I have a friend who was the pastor of a church in Mississippi. He told me about his first Sunday at the church many years ago. He closed his first sermon by saying, “Anybody and everybody is welcome to join our church.” He told me that afterward, a group of church leaders met with him and explained why certain people were not welcome in their church. My friend said to them, “I grew up in a three-room shack. I was the eighth child, and the next youngest child was twelve years older than me. My family didn’t have room for me, and I’m sure my brothers resented me. What if my brothers had gone to my father and said, ‘We don’t want him in our house any longer’? My father would have said, ‘Forget it. He is my son, and this is my house. He stays.’ I don’t believe we have the right to say who is and is not welcome in our Father’s house.”

It doesn’t matter what they look like, who they voted for, or what they’ve done–everyone who trusts in Christ is welcome in the Father’s house. We must welcome them too.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Why God Sends Good People to Hell,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.