Great Privilege Heavy Responsibility

I was reading two passages of scripture recently that stood out to me about the privilege and the responsibility of the act of preaching. On the one hand Isaiah 52:7 talks in a poetic kind of way about the beauty of the feet of one bringing good news. Of course it refers to the great privilege and the joy with which the herald is received when he brings good news from a distant land.  In many ways that is how the preaching of the Gospel is to us. The preacher is one who should be received with joy, gratitude and refreshing, because he brings the good news of salvation to sin weary souls. It is the great honor of the messenger to be called to bring such a message. Not everyone can do this eternally significant task. It is granted to one called by God, equipped and empowered to do so and one whose heart is made fit to discern and deliver the spiritual words of God to man via the Gospel of Christ. It is privilege, but also responsibility, for he must take care to be submitted to God and in a right frame of mind and soul as he serves God in this fashion.
But it is a privilege for the hearers also. Who are they that hear the word of God? There are millions of people around the world, who have not heard the Gospel. They don't even know that there is a Gospel to be heard, but we hear it.  Now that we have heard, we have a responsibility to act on it. This is a grave and huge decision for us. Will we take to heart what we have heard? Will we respond to Gods gracious act of reaching out to us by way of this message? God leaves that decision up to us. Oh, He grants grace, convicts our hearts, makes us aware of our needs, warns us of impending judgment for those who refuse Him, but in the last analysis, it is our decision. What a grave responsibility is hearing the Gospel! On the one hand the offer is made,"the Spirit and the bride say come, the one who thirsts, come!" But on the other hand, "Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong, the one who is filthy, still be filthy." God does all He does, but our responsibility remains. So, he who preaches and they who hear the message preached, have great privilege, yet a dreadful corresponding responsibility. I trust that the next time you hear the message of Christ you will be grateful that you do hear it. I also hope that you will realize the great consequence of your decision to believe or not to believe. Let God be your influence and trust Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The proclamation goes forth daily. Let your yes to God be renewed every day.