Suit Yourself

Suit Yourself

Acts 18: ⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷ Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

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Trying hard to understand, my questions seemed resistant. Well, they “were” hesitant and resistant. A wise person was trying to give me advice and because I could not see the full picture, the advice seemed unactionable to me. After a couple of tries, he said “suit yourself” and left. Everything the he warned me about happened and it was too late to change my decision.

• There have been times when I could not “hear” good advice.
• There have been times when I could not “understand” someone else’s wisdom.
• There have been times when I could not “see” the obstacles in the road ahead so I went with my plans despite being warned.

Tired of the opposition, Paul told the Jews, “Your blood be on your own heads!” He was trying to convince them that JESUS was and is the Messiah. They became abusive and Paul had to move on to those who could hear.

• GOD wants me to listen to HIS advice with immediacy like a child.
• GOD wants me to provide HIS message to those who can hear.
• GOD allows me to move on when someone is not accepting HIS love.

“Suit yourself” is supposedly a term meaning “I tried to give you advice and you would not listen, so you will die and when they bury you, they will put on a suit for the casket.” GOD’s message is finite. We have all of our mortal lives to believe that we need JESUS for salvation.

This belief gives me the desire to tell others about the wonderful gift of love. When a person cannot hear, it makes me want to serve them, teach them and show them GOD cares. But there comes a time when GOD says “move on” meaning this person will not listen. I am saddened when I am told to move on but grateful GOD may send someone else to convince the person.

• Are you trying to convince a person to give all aspects of their lives to JESUS?
• Do you feel exhausted trying to convince a person to be led by GOD?
• Will you listen to GOD and move on if the person is abusive and is not accepting about the great news of JESUS’ salvation today?