Todays Reading: 1 Chronicles 2:18-4:8, Acts 24:1-27, Psalms 4:1-8, Proverbs 18:16-18
Scripture: Act 24:1-27
Coming off a long Fourth of July weekend I read this chapter in Acts with a little different vantage point. Here’s Paul pleading his case before Felix. Paul isn’t pleading for his life or even that they not throw him jail. All he’s pleading is that he is being falsely accused. He pleads his case and then says, “However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” How does that have anything to do with our Independence Day? This is what it means to me. Here’s Paul, a true follower of Christ, a man who endured much persecution for his faith in Christ, a man who ultimately died for his faith, had very little religious freedom. Then there’s me. I have all the religious freedom that can be offered to someone, yet I rarely use my freedom to spread the gospel. Paul has little freedom and faces persecution, but none if it stops him from spreading the gospel. I have all the freedom and I’m too lazy to do anything with it.
It’s a shame that we have lived a life of such prosperity that we have forgotten what it feels like to need something. It’s a shame that we feel such a sense of entitlement that we even believe we’re entitled to eternity. The truth of the matter is the things that we are enjoying so much here on this earth may also be the things that cause us to take our eyes off of Christ. We live in the greatest country in the world, but we have forgotten God because we no longer need Him. We believe we have it all.
Application: My application is simple. Utilize the freedom I have to spread the name of Jesus. Stop focusing on myself and what I don’t have (because I have everything) and use the body, the voice, the possessions to grow God’s Kingdom. We still need God. Our earthly prosperity will not win us eternity with Him.
Prayer: God forgive me for being so self-righteous. Forgive me for taking my freedom for granted. God deliver me from my sense of entitlement. Create in me a heart to reach the lost and dying world right here around me. Give me energy to carry out your purpose.
