But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.” So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. Mark 6:11-12 NLT

Warrior;

God has a plan and a purpose for everything.  Everything means everything; the good, the bad, the right, the wrong, for those that are His and for those that are NOT HIS.  (See Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11) God desires that NONE shall perish, but God gave HUMANS a nasty thing, and it is called FREE WILL!  Hear the Word of the Lord;The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) God’s PREFERRED WILL is that none shall perish.  Mix that with FREE WILL, man’s requirement to CHOOSE God, to be one of the WHOSOEVERS!  It is written; For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) “Whosoever” is a pronoun in the Bible that appears in many verses. It means that no one is excluded from God’s grace and salvation through Jesus Christ. ONLY THOSE WHO WILL to be excluded, will be excluded!  God does not force Himself on anyone. Salvation is a gift, not earned!  “A gift that is commanded is NO GIFT AT ALL!”

Leader, the typical difference between reading the Bible and studying the Bible is “stopping short”.  Many people just read a verse and make it mean what they need it to mean on that day.  Too many people can quote John 3:16 but have never read the complete context by continuing to read the next few verses. Hear the continued Word of the LORD; For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:17-19) Shaking the dust off one’s feet is similar to our modern phrase “I wash my hands of it.” Shaking the dust off the feet is a symbolic indication that one has done all that can be done in a situation and therefore carries no further responsibility. Jesus was telling His disciples that they were to preach the gospel to everyone. Where they were received with joy, they should stay and teach. But where their message was rejected, they had no further responsibility. They were free to walk away with a clear conscience, knowing they had done all they could do. Shaking the dust off their feet was, in effect, saying that those who rejected God’s truth would not be allowed to hinder the furtherance of the gospel. He didn’t tell them to hound them, harass them and insult them, he said, MOVE ON!  This is where we decide who is the ONLY TRUE winner of souls, is it you, or is it God? Do you think you are making that person a Christian, or are you ACTIVATING one of Jesus’ called out ones, who, UP UNTIL NOW, did not know they were called out? But because you shared His Word, it activated one of His ‘sleeper cells’.

Conduit, you might think this is not that important because the command to “shake the dust off your feet” appears only four times in the New Testament. In each case the command is spoken by Jesus to His disciples when He sent them out.  God covers the same concept in many different language patterns, metaphors and stories.  See the parable on the Sower and the SEED.  It was ALL THE SAME SEED but had different outcomes depending on the heart and mind of the listener.  (see Matthew 13:1-29, John 4:7-15) We are never called to bully people with the Bible.  We are never commanded to force people into the Kingdom.  God says the opposite.  IF that is NOT a child of God, nothing you say, no Romans Road will get that person to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And, if that is a child of God- even though they have not come to that understanding yet- nothing you do, or do not do will keep them from the Kingdom. It is NOT about you; it is about JESUS.  NO SHARED GLORY! It is written; I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (John 10:28-29, Romans 8:38-39) Again notice what Matthew 7:6 says, “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you”. The verse is a warning against giving something valuable to those who are unworthy. What makes them unworthy? They reject their FREE WILL to humble themselves before Jesus and turn over LORDSHIP of their life and their will to SON OF GOD!  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) That is our COMMISSION to go out and share the Gospel, the Good News and see how many of God’s people you can activate, and let GOD BE GOD!  Amen!