Scripture

So the runners passed from city to city . . . but they laughed at them and mocked them. Nevertheless some . . . humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
(2 Chronicles 30:10-11)

Devotional

The reaction to the grace of God will vary from city to city and from person to person. When we venture to share Christ with people, some will laugh, others will get angry, but more than a few will listen and respond positively.
The question is not whether people will laugh, but whether we are willing to humble ourselves and share Christ no matter what the response. It seldom seems to be the appropriate time to share Christ. Few people will ever approach you and ask you to tell them about Jesus. We have to love folks enough to approach them and share what we know about the saving grace of God. Some are gifted to do so, others, like maybe you and me, have to do so out of our comfort zone.
You may not have the gift of evangelism, but you can do the work of an evangelist. Some will laugh, but others will respond to eternal life in Christ.

Text For The Day

2 Chronicles 30:10, 11: So the runners passed from city to city… but they laughed at them and mocked them. Nevertheless some…humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

Thought For The Day

“‘I divide the causes of human laughter into Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy. You will see the first among friends and lovers... Among adults some pretext in the way of Jokes is usually provided, but the facility with which the smallest witticisms produce laughter at such a time shows that they are not the real cause. What the real cause is we do not know. Something like it is expressed in much of that detestable art which the humans call Music, and something like it occurs in Heaven… Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged. Besides, the phenomenon is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity, and austerity of Hell.’ Screwtape” C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Questions To Ponder

Does God laugh?
What is the difference between laughing with and laughing at someone or something? Consider our text.
What makes you laugh?

Morning Study Guide

Defining: Noah Webster defines “Mock,” “to deride; to laugh at; to ridicule; to treat with scorn or contempt. ‘As he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, saying, go up, thou bald head,’ 2 Kings 2. Mark 10.” Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

Referencing: “They mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose,” 2 Chronicles 36:16.

Applying: Let them laugh. Yet, do not despise their laughter, pity it.