Mom's Devotional Bible
Facing Resistance to God
Additional Scripture Readings: Romans 12:14; 1 Peter 3:15–16
It’s tough when the people we love don’t respond to the God we love. When we come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we want everyone around us to love and follow him just the way we do.
The truth is that with parents or husbands or even adult children, instead of interest and response, we may get the hometown treatment. When the subject is faith, resistance comes on strong. We spread the contents of our Christianity on the kitchen table only to receive rolled eyes, uncomfortable sighs and raised eyebrows from those we thought would be most interested.
Jesus experienced the same reception when he returned to his hometown of Nazareth. The people there reacted with contempt: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked (Matthew 13:54).
“A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home,” was Jesus’ reply (Matthew 13:57). When we bring the good news of the gospel to our hometowns, we just might get the hometown treatment. But we can be comforted: we aren’t alone.