Oblivious

Dante Autullo had no idea that a 3.5-inch nail was embedded in his brain. He was totally oblivious. Having accidentally shot himself in the head with a nail gun in January 2012, Autullo thought he had only suffered a small cut . . . so he went back to work! Later, he started to feel nauseous and doctors subsequently found the nail lodged in the center of his brain. Amazingly, Dante came through surgery with no side effects, but with a new titanium plate in his skull.

It can be frustrating when unbelievers can’t seem to understand their need for salvation. They’re oblivious. The apostle Paul explained that a person who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit will consider God’s plan of salvation “foolish” (v.14). Later, in the same letter to the church at Corinth, he wrote, “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (v.3).

Does this mean we shouldn’t present reasons for our beliefs to others? No. But it does mean that faith “trusts not in human wisdom, but in the power of God” (v.5). We’re “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). And what we speak are not “words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit” (v.13).

We can’t convince unbelievers of their need for salvation. Only the power of God through the work of His Holy Spirit can accomplish it (v.10; Romans 1:16). We can’t force people to turn from the wisdom of this world. But we also know that “the foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans” (v.25).

Let’s keep sharing the good news, recognizing that only God can turn people from being oblivious into true believers.

—Tom Felten

Taken from “Our Daily Journey”