Solar Eclipse and People’s response to the Gospel!

Today there was a solar ☀️ eclipse happening in Malaysia. As I saw a large group of people (see the photo), (remembering a similar thing happening in my county) I went and talked to them, one by one, telling them about the serious danger of looking at the Sun during the Eclipse. After talking to some people, I saw my friend and we walked to the restaurant where we were supposed to eat lunch. I could not sit comfortably there and I told my friend I needed to go and warn others. I googled Solar Eclipse and blindness and found this:

***“Exposing your eyes to the sun without proper eye protection during a solar eclipse can cause “eclipse blindness” or retinal burns, also known as solar retinopathy. This exposure to the light can cause damage or even destroy cells in the retina (the back of the eye) that transmit what you see to the brain.”***

I went back and saw many people looking up at the sun. I went to them and warned them about it, sometimes showing them my phone so that they can read about it. Some thanked me for warning them and stopped looking at the sun. Some were convinced after reading about it on my phone.

Yet many refused to stop looking! They listened to me, some even thanked me and then kept on looking at the sun! Some said “it was OK”. Some came up with explanations like “I am not directly looking! I am looking at it through my phone!!!” One guy actually looked frustrated and told me “Thanks! If you don’t want to look, then don’t!”

Even when I told them about the risks involved by even looking at the sun’s reflection in mirror or water, they kept on staring at the sun! I felt really sad...😥

When my friend saw me while I was warning people, he said: “this is very much like how people respond to the gospel!”

He was spot on! You can warn people of the upcoming day of judgment, you tell them about the severe consequences of rejecting Christ and denial of God’s existence. You can even show them all the evidence for God’s existence, reliability of the Bible, and historicity of resurrection, etc and yet they refuse to listen. They insist on living their lives their way! They have hardened their hearts and are spiritually blind and unless God through His Spirit opens their eyes and hearts to see and understand their situation, the horror of their sins, and the gloriousness of Christ and what He has done for them on the cross, they will continue to reject God and the salvation offered to them as a gift.

I also began to reflect on what I did. If the possibility of the people’s blindness stopped me from being simply an observer and just walking by them, how can I resist sharing the gospel with others specially when eternity is at stake. Losing your eye is one thing, being separated from the love and grace of God is a totally different thing. I hope God will help me to always have the same passion as Jeremiah:

Jeremiah‬ ‭20:9‬ ‬‬ “If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.”