Acts 28:24-27 - Some believed and some didn’t. But after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul ringing in their ears: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said through Isaiah the prophet, ‘Say to the Jews, “You will hear and see but not understand, for your hearts are too fat and your ears don’t listen and you have closed your eyes against understanding, for you don’t want to see and hear and understand and turn to me to heal you.”’
Paul goes through a bit more craziness on the island of Malta. He is bitten by poisonous snakes and is not hurt….heals the relative of the governor…and is allowed to preach for a bit before they finally leave for Rome. It leads the guards to trust and treat him more kind than they treated others prisoners. Even in Rome he is not really treated like a prisoner…he is allowed to live there for two years in the house of his choosing…under the careful eye of a person guard…but no other restrictions are imposed.
Luke ends his story telling us how Paul was finally able to complete God’s promise of carrying the gospel to the area of Rome. Then he finishes with Paul’s thoughts on how the prophecy of Isiah 6:9-10 rang true in his own preaching. So many people heard the gospel because he was obedient to God through so many hardships…but many of them chose not to respond to it… ears …. heart….and eyes just not synced to God completely.
The world is no different now. America in particular is experiencing this prophecy in a real way these days. A church on every corner…yet crime is at an all time high…some crime against the church itself. New laws are being penned every day that expand the legal choices of all Americans…whether they are supported by God’s word or not. People can pretty much make their own rules these days…and many do….some even justifying God as a part of them.
My Sunday School lesson yesterday brought my mind back to the great words of Joshua 24…just a few words of 14-15….”choose you this day whom you will serve”…..”my house will serve the Lord.” Paul chose God too…and let everyone know about it…no matter what the cost was to his own person. That’s what happens when someone hears the gospel…and lets what their eyes and ears heard sync with their heart. Our eyes and ears and heart work together to be obedient to the task God sent us to do in the first place…no matter what struggles or problems we encounter along the way.
I admit that even though I have chosen God…I am no Paul…or Joshua. I think sometimes that Paul wrote Romans 7:21 about me. It says….So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” That is just our flesh struggling to rise above the sinful nature we were born with. If Paul and Joshua …as much as they struggled….could do it…I can too if I have enough faith.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to sync my heart with my ears and eyes many times a day to stay completely in contact with you. Forgive me for the times that I go days…and let the flesh side of me stay in control too long. Help me remember each time I talk with you to sync what I have been exposed to that day with everything the Bible has taught me about how to live a complete life in you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment