There is a biblical phrase that has “stuck” in my mind since I was a kid. I don’t know why it has, but it has! Though I wish I could, I cannot remember where or who first mentioned it. But as I grew older and memorized Bible verses, studied for Bible quiz teams and the like, this phrase kept popping up. The phrase is: “To the Jew First.” I have a friend who wrote a book on Jewish evangelism a few years ago and entitled his work with this phrase. As I’ve been working my way through the book of Acts recently, the reality of the phrase became more impressed upon my mind and heart. You can’t help but pick up on it as you watch the Apostle Paul go from town to town and country to country. He would always start preaching and teaching in the local Jewish synagogues. The response to his preaching was mixed. Sometimes he was not only gladly received; he was encouraged to come back on the next Sabbath. However, there were times when he and his message of the gospel and the Messiah were soundly rejected. When those responses occurred, Paul would either end up in the middle of a raucous situation that would ultimately see him put in jail, or, he would rebuke his rebukers! He would turn to them and either condemn them outright: “You have considered yourselves unworthy of eternal life.” Or, he would shake off the dust of their city from his garment and declare that since they had rejected his message, he would go to the Gentiles (Aren’t we Gentiles glad?!). But the thought that came to me this week was this: Have we as Gentiles been as faithful in getting the message of the gospel out to our kindred, family and friends? Do we Irish see to it that our fellow Irish countrymen receive the gospel? Those of us that are Poles, do we pass the good news of the Messiah onto our Polish loved ones? The same for Dutch, German…well, you get the idea. How much “to the Jew first” rests within us as we consider our loved ones? But make it easy on yourself. Just start with your own family and go from there. But before you do, take time to read Mark 5:1-20 with special emphasis on verse 19. Are you willing to start at home?