Tuesday, July 19, 2011

They continued to preach the gospel.

Acts 14:3-7, So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.  But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel.

We tend to focus on the more spectacular miracles, and on the next passage where the people began to proclaim Paul and Barnabas as their own idea of gods, Hermes and Zeus, and they humbly proclaimed the gospel. Yet more often than not, despite the amazing signs and wonders, there was life threatening persecution, and they had to entrust the new believers to the Lord and move on. How easily are we dissuaded from even telling others about the good news, of Christ crucified, buried and raised from the dead for some imagined threat?

Give us boldness that we may tell others of the amazing truth of Your great sacrifice and Your resurrection from the dead, Jesus!

ESV Lectionary

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