Acts 13:4-12
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit,
they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When
they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of
the Jews. And they had John to assist them. 6 When they had
gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain
magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with
the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and
Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the
magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn
the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also
called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and
said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit
and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And
now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable
to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he
went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the
proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the
teaching of the Lord.
Three things that caught my
eye in this passage:
1.
They did
as the Holy Spirit directed.
2.
They
spoke the Word of God.
3.
They allowed
the Holy Spirit to take action through them.
We will always have
opposition regarding the Word of God no matter where we go. There are people who take the Words of the
Lord and twist them into whatever meaning they want it to have. There are people who disregard it as fiction
and have no desire to see its content.
Then there are those who desire to believe while being advised by others
not to believe. Where do you stand? Are you one who has not made a decision
regarding the authenticity of the Bible?
Or are you one who is trying to proclaim the Word of God and finding
opposition all around you?
As I read this passage I
found that the intelligent man sought out the meaning of the Word of God. He wanted to believe but there was something
that caused him to doubt and it was a man, a magician who saw that if this man
believed, it would ruin his profits.
Apparently this intelligent man had sought him out for advice in the
past. It is clear to me that the man
knew there was something beyond the here and now but was just not sure what it
was causing him to search all avenues, not really knowing who to believe.
If Paul, Barnabus, and John
would have only shared the Gospel, this man may not have believed. He needed to know there was more than just
words spoken regarding the power of our Great and Mighty God. Paul spoke against the magician and caused
him to become blind. I don’t see that
sort of thing happening today, do you?
If it did happen, a lawsuit would ensue and the Christian would most
likely lose their rights. Wait a minute,
this passage was written when Christians were losing their lives, being
arrested, and having to spread out to avoid being shut down. Hummm, where does that leave us today? What is our excuse for not proclaiming the
Gospel. Why do we shy away from the
threat of the negativism, and hold dear to political correctness?
As I read this passage my
belief was confirmed, actions speak as loud as words. As we continue in the passage we see that the
intelligent man believed but he needed both actions and Words to be convinced
of the power of God. What are our
actions today? Do we show kindness to
the unlovable? Do we rebuke the
ungodly? Do we stand firm in our faith
or do we run away? More importantly than
our actions, do we allow the Holy Spirit to take action or do we try to fix it
ourselves. Paul merely rebuked the man
but it was the Power of our Lord and Savior that caused him to be blind. This is something that Paul was very familiar
with as it happened to him as well. When
this action happened Paul too was brought to the realization of who Christ
is.
As you seek Him today may you
allow the Holy Spirit to work in you for His will and His way. I pray that I may discern His will in my
life, hear His call, and follow Him the entire pathway. I pray the same for all those who read this
blog.
Seeking Him with all my
heart,
Sheila
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