Today’s Reading: Exodus 23; Exodus 24; Psalm 14; Acts 5
Scripture: Acts 5:40-42
40 ...They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Observation: These were amazing men -- brave and faithful. They are flogged (which is mentioned in the text so casually -- almost as an aside) which is a serious and painful punishment, and yet they rejoice for being "counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name [of Jesus]!" Amazing! They are threatened and ordered not to speak anymore in the name of Jesus, yet the text says that they did not stop. And they continued "in the temple courts," the very place where it had gotten them into this trouble in the first place.
Application: What an encouragement and challenge this is to each of us who desire to be a faithful witness of the message of Jesus. These men endure and even rejoiced in truly painful consequences and they continued to preach despite threats and actual physical harm. This is quite convicting to me as I often find myself struggling with whether or not to share Jesus out of fear of the possibility of offending someone, or receiving someone's disapproval. These apostles demonstrate a level of passion that I so long to have. Lord, help me.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I ask you to empower and embolden me to be unafraid and unashamed in sharing the wonderful truth of your love for people. I want to be like these brave and faithful men.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment