Have you ever considered that Jesus rewards us when people reject us for telling them about Him?  He told us that in the Sermon on the Mount:  ¹¹“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  e  Matthew 5:11-12 NIV  Actual persecution for telling others about Jesus isn't likely in our culture, but people may laugh at us, dismiss us or ridicule us.  When they do, Jesus tells us he'll reward us.  If they accept what we have to say, then they have the blessing of becoming part of God's eternal Kingdom, and we have the joy of being part of that process!  So, you could say telling others about Jesus is a win-win situation.  Either they accept Jesus and everyone wins, or they reject Jesus and we win for risking the rejection and ridicule.

So, now what's keeping you from telling someone about Jesus?  If we receive a reward for being rejected and the blessing of helping someone into the Kingdom when folks accept the Good News when we present it, then what is stopping us from telling someone about Him?  The correct answer is:  NOTHING.  Yet, still we hesitate.  Why now?  We're running out of reasons (excuses?), aren't we?  The reasons left include the devil's influence.  After all, he certainly doesn't want people to hear the Good News and be saved.  Laziness.  Yes, sometimes we're just lazy and don't take the initiative to tell others about Jesus.  Or we don't truly believe that those who reject Jesus are ultimately going to spend eternity in hell.  Many folks in our day, even folks who claim Jesus as Lord, believe that at the end of the day--at the end of THE day--God's going to shout, "Ollie, Ollie ox in free!" and everyone will get to live in heaven forever, regardless of their response to Jesus or total lack thereof.  Jesus doesn't leave us with that idea, nor do the remaining pages of God's word.  That leaves us one reasonable option:  Tell people the Good News. Who are you going to tell today?

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, thank You for promising us a reward for being rejected by folks when we tell them about Jesus.  Thanks for blessing others with salvation when they hear the Good News.  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we will have Your boldness in telling others about Jesus today--regardless of others' responses.  This we ask in Jesus' name.  Amen.