Unresponsive hearers

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.[a] Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah's response to a revelation encounter of God was to volunteer for the hardest of all jobs...to GO and be SENT FORTH to speak to a people, many of whom DID NOT WANT TO HEAR. All the same, God plans and purposes that all should HEAR His message. I want to leave a small thought with you today here....God decrees here that the preaching/declaration of His Word here (by Isaiah)in this instance - and certainly to many around us today - will have a hardening effect on the generation that He was sent to (- others thank God will respond affirmatively...)

. In this their posture before God would be laid bare for what it truly is and what it truly is not. Faith is a gift of God's Grace to us - the unresponsive hearer finds that the proclaimed message only hardens him to God's gracious purposes. For those who SPEAK of Christ and proclaim His gospel in the community there is much for us here to chew on. Rejection of the message (and the messenger) by some or many must not stop us from sharing this Good News with the world around us. For those who are open and responsive to Christ and His exclusive claims, there is salvation, mercy and grace. For those who are not, there is a deeper hardening of the heart and mind that takes place, but still like Isaiah, we are sent forth to boldly and yet lovingly proclaim His message, to be led by the Spirit in this, and to live the message ourselves. Don't be put off by reactions, you are not failing (although this is not to say that the messenger may not obstruct the clarity of the message by his character or disposition in some way, potentially...) if people reject Christ...indeed it could be the very sign that the message is that situation has been properly and adequately proclaimed. None of us want to see a sinful human being plug his ears to the very PERSON who can save them, who loves them with an everlasting love, who suffered and died to open up a new and living way for sinners! However, our job is to proclaim and live in this GOOD NEWS! It is God who convicts and it is God who saves! So don't be amazed when people harden their hearts even further, none of us LIKE this, but it is evidence enough that that person is not READY to receive the one gift that can rescue them from perishing.Pray they do......