Luke 10:16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

When you come right down to it, this is a very remarkable state­ment. It totally backs up Paul’s remarks in 2 Corinthians 5 about being Christ’s ambassadors and speaking for Him, even though Paul was not one of the 72 being commissioned here. We are not to get delusions of grandeur here, running around making pronouncements and feeling like we are God, but it does make the responsibility pretty heavy. It also brings to mind Jesus’ strong word of warning: “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36) That word, “careless,” is sometimes translated “unprofitable,” and the implication is that we aren’t to just go blowing off at the mouth. If people’s response to us governs their response to God, then we want to be very careful we don’t misrepresent God! That’s not to say we are never to say things we know people won’t receive. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, not to mention most of the Old Testament prophets, are excellent examples of people given messages to proclaim that wouldn’t be received. We aren’t to draw back if that’s the case with us, but we are to be very careful that our words don’t alienate needlessly. At the same time, we aren’t to take rejection personally. We aren’t to be surprised at it, and it can certainly be disappointing, but if we are being faithful to speak what the Lord gives us to say, we are little more than the Bluetooth speakers you might connect to your cellphone. If those speakers are damaged you will get unwanted distortion, and we want to avoid that if at all possible. God’s words have infinite power behind them, (Isaiah 55:10-11) but our words on their own are essentially powerless, and we must never forget that.

I have always been a person of words, and it was recognized very early that I was gifted in that way. That creates extra dangers for me, because I am tempted to generate words on my own, and that never ends well. Going back to my earlier metaphor, I am actually not just an inanimate speaker. Everyone who speaks or writes imparts their own flavor to the words. I need to strive to make my words as tasty as possible, particularly when I am speaking for God. I don’t want anyone to reject God because of my stupidity! I just ordered a book from someone who does writers’ workshops, hoping for good pointers on how to get my autobiography done. I think that was probably wise, but at the same time, God is my ultimate writing Coach! I am to rejoice at the ways God uses me, but never take personal pride in any of it. Everything good is from Him!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the very good contact with one of my spiritual children yesterday. I do pray for him as he starts a new job today. May he do so as Your representative to each person he encounters, so that many will be brought out of the lies of enemy and into Your kingdom of light and life, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!