Tuesday 3 May 2022

May 3: Acts 7:51-53

Key Verse: Acts 7:51
You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

Devotion:
Stephen was a man on a mission to make sure everyone heard about Jesus, not the version the Sanhedrin wanted people to know, but the truth! When he was confronted by the Sanhedrin, he did not hold back on his views of them! His retort here was to tell them they may have physically been circumcised, but they were not spiritually circumcised!

He said this as a warning to them to show they were following the letter of the law instead of following what God was trying to impress in their hearts. We also have to be very careful in our modern lives to not get carried away with doing things because other Christians are doing it, or because it is the way others are acting! Jesus wants us to be individuals who are willing to listen to what He has to say to us and act accordingly!

We can see from the Gospels in our bibles that each of the Apostles had a slightly different view of what was happening; this is largely due to the Holy Spirit talking to each of the Apostles in their own way. We do not have to all be the same, we are individuals!

When we follow what others are doing, we are following them and not necessarily Christ. This may sound harsh and we could all say we are being taught by good Christian people and so we should be doing what they say, but there is always the human element involved and humans do get things wrong now and again. I will always freely admit I do make mistakes and this is why I always try to show you the passage in the bible where I am getting my devotions from – because God may have a unique message for you through the words in the bible!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you think about the words in the bible?

Will you take a bit of time to listen to what God wants to say to you?