Day 322

The Deacon and the Destroyer

Read: Acts 8-9

Another deacon involved in evangelism was Philip who carries out the next step of the Great Commission, going to Samaria. There he has a fruitful ministry, yet God calls him from that ministry to meet one man, the Ethiopian official who knew about the true God but needed to know about Jesus.

The Ethiopian officer is reading the Bible but does not understand it. He is reading Isaiah 53, and Philip tells him how Jesus fulfills that passage. The church must explain the Bible to people, being very careful to interpret it aright, realizing that above all we must meet Jesus in the Bible.

Saul seeks to destroy the church. Jesus meets him on the road to Damascus, where Saul (later called Paul) is converted and commissioned to be a missionary. In spite of his past, Jesus said Saul was “a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles” (9:15). God has chosen every Christian to be an instrument to spread the gospel. What a privilege, what a responsibility! Paul’s message was, “He is the Son of God” (9:20). Our message is to tell who Jesus is and what he has done. We must also call people to respond to that message in surrender to Jesus. You know about Jesus. Has that been your response? What are you doing to share the gospel with others?

PRAYER
Father, we pray that many people may be converted and go on to proclaim the truth by word and deed. Amen.