40 Day Daniel Fast Day 23

Devotional
Have you heard of this saying, "ignorance is bliss?" Of course, you have; it simply relieves a person of responsibility of knowing. To explain this, this person is ignorant about a particular topic, and therefore they don't have to worry about it. How much of this thinking is dangerous? Sure, when we were much younger in life, like grade-school age, being ignorant of how the world worked was OK. This also could be true with our limited understanding of the ins and outs of our military operations. If we knew what they were protecting us from, we might not sleep. Ignorance may be helpful for some things, but there are a few it can't be beneficial for, and one of the major and most important is salvation.

Paul asks us three questions in one verse; I want to highlight a few questions; first is "how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?" Is ignorance bliss? What would help this person believe? Is it worth this person moving one more second in life ignorant to the preached gospel? You see, too often, we want the world to call Him Lord but miss the steps to getting them there; how can they call Him Lord if they have never heard about Him? You see, this isn't just saying "Jesus loves you, and so do I" and moving on. No, they have to understand what is being said to them. Paul uses a Greek word here, he says "akouo," which is to understand. It's not just to comprehend but understand the significance of the words and realize that a response is required. Which naturally leads us to the last question: "How do they understand if no one tells them?" Can we safely say, if we (the children of God) those of us who are no longer walking around ignorant, understand salvation and understand what it means not to accept Jesus as savior, wouldn't it behoove us to share this message? Wouldn't it be loving of us to get our loved ones, co-workers, friends, and neighbors out of ignorance?

Challenge
Think about someone you know and are close with that don’t know Jesus as Lord. Will you begin to pray for them? Pray that they will open up their ears to hear your word of truth. Don’t talk yet, just pray, pray earnestly that God will soften their heart to hear the truth!