How to love those who ridicule you
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” - 2 Peter 3:3-4
In 1818, Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of “childbed fever.” Back then, a doctor’s daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there the doctor made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands.
Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations with the resultant infection and death. His own practice was to wash with a chlorine solution, and after eleven years and the delivery of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers—about one in fifty.
He spent the vigor of his life lecturing and debating with his colleagues. Once he argued, “While we talk, talk, talk, gentlemen, women are dying. I am not asking anything world shaking. I am asking you only to wash.... For God’s sake, wash your hands.”
Virtually no one believed him, and Semmelweis died insane at the age of 47, his colleagues laughing in his face. It wasn’t until years later that hand washing became a common, life-saving practice among medical professionals.
There will come a day when all will be made known, and those who have scoffed at the gospel will see their error. But until then, stay vigilant in sharing God’s message of salvation with a dying world!
Prayer Challenge
Pray that God would give you the resolve to be vigilant in sharing His message of hope with a dying world.
Questions for Thought
What is a time in your life when others have scoffed at you for what you deeply believed to be true?
How can you persevere in sharing God’s message of salvation, even to those who see it as “silly” or “nonsense”?
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